


Pandemic Survival-Lyman Style

by GinnyK



Series: Peering into the Future [9]
Category: The West Wing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Family, Pandemics, Quarantine, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-02 17:07:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 58,248
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24130315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GinnyK/pseuds/GinnyK
Summary: Quarantine with the Lyman Family
Relationships: Josh Lyman/Donna Moss
Series: Peering into the Future [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/231057
Comments: 24
Kudos: 54





	1. 1/26/20

**Author's Note:**

> I've wanted to revive this series for a while but never really came up with an idea, until COVID 19 took over.
> 
> I'm using this as an outlet for my frustration over the whole thing. Being essential personnel at the hospital is beyond draining, and I'm not even in the middle of treating the COVID patients.

1/26/20

Donna came of out the master bathroom, wearing a towel on her head and an old pair of Josh’s plaid flannel pajamas. She waited a beat for the inevitable teasing her outfit was sure to garner from her husband who was currently curled up in the overstuffed chair in the corner. He was intently reading something on his laptop. When the teasing didn’t come, she unwrapped her hair, brushed it and braided it loosely before sitting on the arm of the chair, pressed a quick kiss to the top of Josh’s head before smoothing down his slightly out of control white hair. 

“What’s so fascinating?” she asked as she tried to read what had his attention, but without her reading glasses it was all but impossible. 

“That coronavirus people are starting to talk about,” he muttered as he set the laptop on the floor and pulled Donna into his lap. “It’s here now, five cases in Washington State.”

“The virus from China?” Donna asked as she threw her long legs over the arm of the chair. Josh just had time to nod before she leaned in for a kiss. “I don’t think we need to worry about it just yet,” she teased as Josh snaked his hand under the pajama top she was wearing.

“Eww gross, get a room,” their oldest son Jake groaned from the doorway a minute later. At 5 months away from turning 14 he was finally starting to grow a bit. Which made him very happy as his brother who was 18 months younger was only an inch or so shorter, a fact Jessie loved to tease him about.

“We have a room buddy, in fact, we’re in our room,” Josh pointed out as he nudged Donna a little so she stood up. “Did you need something?” Josh asked as he kicked his shoes off and tossed them in the closet.

“Uh, I need 10 dollars for the field trip and you need to sign off on my report card,” Jake announced as he flopped down in the chair his parents had just vacated.

‘Here,” Josh said handing him a 20 out of his wallet. “Nice job on the report card,” he added. For the first time in recent memory, Jake had managed to bring home straight A’s. He had tried not to be too excited on Friday afternoon when he came home but he’d worked really hard over the previous quarter and was proud of himself.

“Thanks Dad,” he said as he tucked the bill in the pocket of the sweatpants he was wearing. 

“Hey, I brought home all A’s too,” Jessie announced from the hallway. It was not an unusual accomplishment for him, but his parents were just as proud. Josh rifled through his wallet, found a 10 and handed it to his younger son, who took it with a grin.

“You need more money for anything this week?” Donna asked Jessie. He shook his head as he too flopped into the chair, landing on his brother, who promptly shoved him to the floor.

“Remember when they both fit in the chair and there was no fighting?” Josh snorted as he went into the bathroom to change.

“Vaguely,” Donna muttered as she shooed them out of the room. “Put the water on for tea and meet us in the kitchen,” she called after them. It was Sunday evening and time for what they had years ago dubbed the Lyman Week-Ahead Meeting. The weekly check in meeting had come about when their nanny/babysitter/driver Ben married Annie Westin in July 2018 and they started their new life in Baltimore. For over a year and a half they’d limped along, cobbling together rides for the boys and Josh with Donna, friends and Uber. Every once in a while they talked about getting someone full time again but replacing Ben seemed all but an impossible task.

The 4 members of the Lyman family sat around the table with tea, cookies and the old-fashioned wall calendar the boys teased their mother about. But in truth, being able to take a quick glance at the calendar on the pantry door came in handy at least a few times a week.

Basketball practice, piano lessons, a school trip, a lecture for Josh and a school dance for the boys rounded out the week. Jessie hung the calendar back up while Donna set up the coffee maker for the morning. Jessie kissed his parents good night and headed upstairs. Donna went into the laundry room to move over one load of clothes and fold another. 

“How’s the studying going?” Josh asked Jake as he took one last cookie and put the package back in the pantry. 

“Good, I think. Glad I have a few extra weeks. But I’m not sure about this. Do I really want to go to a high school where I don’t know anyone? What’s wrong with Bethesda Chevy Chase High School?” he muttered as he paced around the kitchen. A habit he’d inherited from his father.

“Nothing. Mom and I are fine either way, BCC is a great public high school. But St. Alban’s is a great school too. You want to look at Mom’s index cards again?” Josh teased.

“God no, please not the index cards,” Jake groaned as he hopped up to sit on the counter, also something he’d inherited from his father. 

“Don’t let your mother hear that,” Josh suggested with a smirk as he leaned against the counter, twirling his cane around a little.

“St. Alban’s is smaller, that would be good. There’s 2000 kids at BCC,” Jake said as he kicked his feet against the cabinet, earning a glare from Josh.

“500 kids in your class is a lot to deal with. St. Alban’s has less than 100. There are more opportunities for a lot of cool things,” Josh said as he poured himself a glass of water and took his pills. 

“Except for dating,” Jake teased. At first, the thought of an all-boys high school sounded horrible to him but he was getting used to it. Truth was, there was a nearby girl’s school and the two schools did do activities together. “The church things scares me a little. Well, I’m not scared about church. It’s just not something we usually do,” Jake muttered as he shrugged his shoulders. “Could we?” he asked quietly.

“What, go to church?” Josh asked as he took a seat on a stool at the counter. Jake just nodded. “If you want,” he answered. Church and religion hadn’t been a big part of the boys’ upbringing. They’d been baptized as infants, to appease Donna’s parents more than anything else. They usually went to church at Christmas and the boys went other times during the year with their friends. Both enjoyed going to mass in Manchester with Jed and Abbey when they visited. The family celebrated Hanukkah at home with Josh and Donna but that was about it for their Jewish traditions. “How about we go to National Cathedral next Sunday?” Josh offered.

“All of us?” Jake asked.

“Is that what you want?” Josh asked, truly not sure how Jakes was going to answer.

“Can I decide later?” Jake asked as he slid off the counter.

“Sure,” Josh answered as he turned out the light. “Go get settled, Mom will be up in a minute,” he added as he ruffled Jakes’s blond curls. Jake gave him a quick hug and ran up the stairs, two at a time, nearly stumbling on the top step with a laugh.

Josh usually said his goodnights to the boys downstairs. By the end of the long day, climbing the stairs was not something he was usually up to physically tackling. In the almost 3 years since his retirement from teaching at George Washington University his physical health had held pretty steady. He had lots of good days and a few days each month when he’d prefer to just stay curled up under the covers. He used his cane for the most part at home and always when he went out. The boys were accepting of his limitations. They weren’t exactly “living a life of horror” as Josh and Donna both felt the need to remind them on occasion. 

Josh locked the front door and wandered down the hall to their bedroom. Donna had just finished putting away their clothes and was headed upstairs to say good night to the boys. Josh brushed his teeth and curled back up in the chair with his laptop. He clicked through a couple of links about coronavirus, skimming some articles, saving a few for later.

Donna came back down a10minutes later, brushed her teeth and set out her clothes for the morning.

“Jake say anything?” Josh asked as she came back out of the closet and sat down on the arm of the chair, putting her arm around him.

“Not really. Why, did he say something to you?” she asked.

“Just a little worried about St. Alban’s,” Josh said vaguely. “But at least he got an extra two weeks to study since we had that snowstorm the day of the test.”

“I just hope he gets in. I know he’s still a bit ambivalent about the whole idea but it would good for him. He’s worked so hard this last year and a half to pull up his grades and in general settle down. Not much we can do about it until he takes the test.”

“Yeah,” Josh agreed as he powered down the laptop and handed it to Donna so she could set it on the dresser.

Both Josh and Donna read for a while, with Josh eventually falling asleep in the middle of a page, something which happened at least twice a week. Donna carefully extracted his book from his hands and slipped off his glasses before nudging him to get under the covers.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The time stamps I'm using at the beginning of the chapters come from a website listing the Coronavirus developments for the DC Metro area. Seems like a logical way to frame things. And may keep me from wandering too far from the COVID 19 plot.

1/27/20

Josh glanced at the clock on the microwave, trying to gauge how much time he had before Jake and Donna would arrive home, hungry for dinner. He figured he had about 20 minutes, which gave him time to make real rice to go with the chicken, not the bag you toss in the microwave, no offense to Uncle Ben.

“Jess,” he said as he glanced over his shoulder to his younger son who was sitting at the kitchen table with his homework.

“What Dad?” came Jessie’s reply, without looking up from his math book.

“Please grab the bag of rice out of the pantry and the butter out of the fridge,” Josh replied as he grabbed the measuring cup out of the dish drainer and pushed his glasses up a little higher on his nose.

Jessie put the rice on the counter and pulled open the fridge with a bit more force than necessary, causing a bottle of beer to fly off the door and roll across the kitchen floor.

“Easy there buddy,” Josh teased as Jessie reached for the beer. “And you can leave that out on the counter. Don’t open it yet, we don’t need beer all over the kitchen.”

“Wait, should you drink that?” Jessie asked as he took a closer look at the bottle.

“Are you the beer police?” Josh smirked as he dumped the water in the pot and turned on the flame. While he didn’t drink much, the occasional beer was not an issue, even in Donna’s eyes.

“Can’t you get sick from that?” Jessie asked with a touch of 12 year old innocence as he motioned towards the bottle of Corona on the counter.

“What?” Josh asked. It took a good 10 seconds for him to realize what in the world his young son was talking about. “No. Are you talking about the coronavirus?”

“Yeah, I heard something on tv about it. So, it doesn’t have anything to do with beer?” he asked as he pulled the plates from the cabinet and started to set the table.

“No, not at all. But thanks for clarifying that before going around telling your friends that your old man is going to die from having a beer,” Josh teased as he got down the glasses and handed them to Jessie.

“Okay, so you won’t die from the beer, but you may upset your sensitive system,” Jessie teased as he took a quick step away from Josh and out of reach of the wooden spoon his father was holding up towards him while rolling his eyes. “Now would be a good time to take your books in the other room and maybe practice the piano for a few minutes until Jake and mom get home,” Josh suggested with a laugh.

Jessie dropped his books on the coffee table in the family room and sat down at the piano. He didn’t really feel like practicing his scales, so he just started playing pieces from memory. He went through a few little songs he’d been playing for years before opening up the first book he put his hands on, a book of Ed Sheeran songs. He flipped the pages, ending up on Perfect. He’d gotten the book a few weeks earlier and he and Eric, his piano teacher, had started on the song the week before. He stumbled a little trying to do both hands at once from the start, a habit which drove Josh nuts.

“One hand at a time, Jessie. You just started the song,” Josh called in the general direction of the family room. The rice was starting to boil so he stirred it, turned the burner down and set the timer before wiping his hands and heading for the family room. “Scoot over,” he said to Jessie, who moved to his right, leaving his father to handle the left-hand part. “Gee thanks,” Josh muttered as he moved the book over a few inches so he could see what he was doing.

They ran through the first verse of the song a few times, eventually trading spots. The timer went off for the rice as they heard the front door open, announcing the arrival of Jake and Donna.

Dinner was the usual combination of the boys both vying for the attention of their parents and a recap of the days’ events. Since Jessie had set the table, Jake was on dishwasher duty, a chore he completed with a minimal amount of complaining for a change. Probably because he put in his airpods and talked to his friend on the phone at the same time. 

Donna wandered down the hall to change out of her work clothes. As she passed by the office she saw Josh sitting on the couch, reading something on his laptop while CNN droned on in the background. She got changed and went to check and see what was holding Josh’s attention.

“They’re starting to test people in the DC area,” Josh said as Donna came into the room and perched on the arm of the couch.

“What?” she asked, not quite following her husband’s train of thought. Which even after 16 years of marriage was not all that unusual.

“Coronavirus. Which, by the way, Jessie was worried I could catch from a bottle of Corona.”

“Hope you set your son straight,” Donna deadpanned.

“I did and then he made a crack about my sensitive system,” Josh whined, hoping to gain a little sympathy from his wife. He quickly realized he wasn’t going to get it.

“Are you going to be obsessed with this virus?” Donna asked.

“You act like I’m always obsessed with something,” Josh snorted.

“Well, there was theoretical physics and string theory, not to mention the more recent obsession with Fiona the hippo,” Donna snorted right back.

“Hey, Jessie was the first one obsessed with Fiona,” Josh corrected.

“Yeah, and our then 11 year old just planned a whole long weekend in Cincinnati all on his own last summer.”

“I give up. And you had fun on that trip,” Josh muttered, throwing his hands up in mock exasperation.

“Okay. I’m going to make some tea, you want some?” Donna asked as she ruffled his hair and stood up.

“Sure, something decaffeinated.”

“Of course,” Donna said as she turned towards the kitchen and almost ran into her youngest child.

“Dad, can you help me?” Jessie asked from the doorway of Josh’s office. He had his own laptop under his arm and his backpack hanging from the other hand. Josh waved him into the room and Jessie plopped himself down next to his dad.

“Math? Please say no,” Josh teased. 

“No. I need to write an essay on the most “interesting” person I know. Someone I really know,” he clarified as he pulled a folder out of his backpack.

“And that’s not me?” Josh smirked as he set aside his computer and nudged his son with his shoulder.

“Daaad,” Jessie whined as only a child with Moss and Lyman genes could.

“Well, I can think of a couple people off the top of my head,” Josh said with as straight a face as he could possibly manage.

“Who?” Jessie asked.

Josh just laughed and reached to grab a picture frame off the desk. “I think there might be a few people in this picture who could be labeled as vaguely interesting.”

Jessie pushed his glasses up on his nose and looked at the picture which had been taken a few years earlier at the celebration for Jed Bartlet’s 75th birthday. Abbey had thrown a huge weekend long celebration to mark to occasion. “What about Uncle Jed?” Jessie asked.

“Or Aunt CJ, Uncle Toby, Uncle Sam or really any adult in that picture,” Josh teased with a smile.

“I think I’ll do Uncle Jed. I have to interview him, think he’d do it?” Jessie asked. It had been about 6 months since they’d been up to New Hampshire and Jed’s health hadn’t been the best physically but mentally he was as sharp as ever.

“I’m pretty sure he would love to help you with your essay. Why don’t you text him,” Josh suggested.

“Good idea,” Jessie agreed as he patted his pocket for his cell phone. “My phone’s charging in the kitchen. Can I finish my homework in here after I text him?”

“Sure,” Josh answered as Jessie was already halfway down the hall.

“Whoa sweetie,” Donna said as she once again narrowly avoided being run over by her youngest child flying by her in a blur of blond curls and skinny limbs. “What’s he up to?” she asked Josh as she set the tea down on the end table, wiping away what had spilled down the side when she had just missed colliding with Jessie in the hallway.

“Writing an essay on the most interesting person he knows.”

“And he picked you?” Donna snorted as she sat down on the edge of the desk. Josh just rolled his eyes as he took a sip of the tea. “Jed?”

“Of course, he’s texting him now. You know we need to make a trip up to New Hampshire soon,” Josh added.

“Yeah, it’s been a few months and well, things could happen fast,” Donna agreed. “I’ll look at flights, unless you want to drive.” Josh just glared at her suggestion. The last time they drove the boys fought the whole time and they got a flat tire. Donna picked up the picture Jessie had been looking at, running her finger over the image with a little giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Josh asked.

“The fact that our 12 year old is right now texting a former President of the United States for help with his homework. Kind of surreal at times, the life our boys have.”

“It sure is. Thankfully, the older they get the more they seem to realize just how lucky they are. I mean, none of their friends have ever flow on Air Force One or hung out in the Oval Office.” Donna just gave a smile and nodded in agreement. 

“He didn’t answer yet,” Jessie announced as he came back in the room and sat down on the couch and opened up his laptop. He scooted down just a little so his feet reached the coffee table. Josh was basically in the same position and Donna snapped a quick picture of the pair with Josh’s phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So at some point I'm going to have to introduce a fictional President into this story. For a fleeting second President Seaborn sounded great but the previous story in the series, set in May 2017, Sam is happily single and living in CA far from the political world. In the series John Hoynes would have been President until 2018. Someone has been in the Oval Office for just about a year, but who? 
> 
> I'm open to suggestions.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos on this story and for the previous ones in the series, which people are apparently reading also!


	3. Chapter 3

1/30/20

Josh arrived home from PT half an hour before the boys were expected home from school. He got himself a drink of water and headed for a quick shower.

“Dad, we’re home,” he heard Jessie yell as he stepped out of the shower and wrapped a striped towel around his waist.

“Okay, I’ll be out in a minute. Get yourself a snack,” Josh called in the general direction of the kitchen.

The three of them ate a bag of microwave popcorn before scattering. Jake answered his ringing cell phone and headed for the family room, Jessie went up to his room with his backpack and Josh cleaned up from their snack and flipped through the mail.

“Dad, I’m going to be busy in my room for the next hour or so, can you please not disturb me?” Jessie asked a few minutes later as he wandered into the laundry room where Josh was finishing up folding a load of towels.

Josh did his best to keep a straight face at the serious request coming from his 12 year old who currently had popcorn crumbs on his face. “Sure, I think I can do that. What is so important that you need peace and quiet?” he asked as he motioned for Jessie to pick up the towels which belonged in the bathroom he shared with his brother.

“I’m going to FaceTime with Uncle Jed for my essay,” Jessie explained as he shoved his cell phone in the pocket of his jeans and picked up the towels.

“Okay, you tell Uncle Jed I said ‘hi’. And maybe wipe your face and do something with your hair before you call him,” Josh teased.

“Good idea, thanks Dad,” Jessie said as he headed for the stairs.

Josh just shook his head and carried the remaining towels to the master bathroom. He put them away and went to the kitchen to start dinner. Jake was in the kitchen with books spread out in front of him, cell phone blaring music Josh couldn’t have identified in a million years. Jessie’s taste in music was closer to his father’s. 

“Hey Dad,” Jake said as he turned the volume down a little. 

“Hey, homework or studying for the exam?” Josh asked as he motioned towards the books spread out on the kitchen table.

“Exam. I can’t wait for it to be over. Just another week.”

“Yep, it will all be over soon. You ready?” Josh asked. He got the fully expected shoulder shrug from Jake. “Just do your best, that’s all mom and I ever ask for,” Josh reminded him.

“I know. But I think I really, really want to go there,” Jake said with a bit of unbridled enthusiasm, which was very rare for him.

“We know you do. How about you take a break and give me a hand? You want mashed potatoes or mac and cheese with the meatloaf?” Josh asked, already knowing the answer to his question. Jake’s definitive answer came when he went into the pantry and emerged with a box of elbow macaroni. He got a pot out and filled it with water while Josh preheated the oven. Jake grabbed the butter and bag of shredded cheddar out of the fridge so Josh could start on the cheese sauce. “What did you decide about church on Sunday?” Josh asked as Jake hopped up on the counter.

“Do you think it would be okay if we all went together?” he asked quietly.

Josh smiled a little before answering. It was rare that Jake suggested they all do something together. “I think that would be more than okay. And we can go out to lunch after, okay?”

“Yeah. In the city? We haven’t been in since Christmas. Well, except for mom who gets to go in every day.” Jake added with a grin.

“Yeah, mom’s lucky that way,” Josh agreed. 

While Jake and Josh worked on dinner Jessie was up in his room having a productive FaceTime session with Jed Bartlet. Josh could hear his son pacing around as he talked, a habit Jessie had definitely inherited from him.

*****

“Uncle Jed and Aunt Abbey said hi to everyone,” Jessie announced half an hour later when he came down. He headed for the fridge, slipping past Donna who was standing there waiting for a hug. 

Sorry mom,” he teased as he backtracked to give her a quick hug before opening the fridge and grabbing the pitcher of iced tea. 

Jessie was all too happy to share the conversation he’d had with Jed over dinner. Jake was fascinated by some of the facts Jessie had learned, hanging on every word his brother said for a change. Josh and Donna just sat back and listened with pride.

*****

After dinner the boys headed up to their rooms. Jessie worked on his essay and Jake finished up his homework. Donna loaded the dishwasher while Josh paced the kitchen, until he got in her way one too many times and was banished to a stool at the breakfast bar. 

“Jake wants all of us to go to church on Sunday,” he mentioned, out of the blue.

“Really?” Donna asked as she closed the dishwasher.

“Chapel is part of St. Alban’s and I think he wants to be prepared for it if he gets in. I’m sure he wants to keep from doing something to embarrass himself.”

“Makes sense to me. You okay with it?” Donna asked as she turned on the burner under the tea kettle. She grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet and set them in front of Josh. 

“I’m fine with it. I mean attending church at the Protestant center of the Metro DC area isn’t something my ancestors would have been thrilled about, but it’s not like I’m going to temple or anything either. And it was his idea that we all go together and I’m not about to turn down a suggestion like that. Oh, and we’re going out to lunch after,” he added.

“Where are we eating?” Donna asked as she plucked a tea bag out of the basket.

“His only request was, somewhere in the city. I think he’s having withdrawals, hasn’t been in the city since Christmas.”

“Neither have you?” Donna pointed out. “You having withdrawals too?” she asked, pretty sure she already knew the answer to her question. 

“Probably some,” Josh teased. Truth was, he was kind of missing politics just a little. He hadn’t done any consulting in a few months. Last time he was in the White House was for a party around the holidays. President Santos had invited him and Donna. And they had happily accepted.

Matt Santos had been in office for a year, having easily won the election in 2018, after John Hoynes had completed his two terms. Josh was surprised he’d even decided run again. Back in 2009 Josh had convinced him to try to grab the 2010 Democratic nomination. He had only lasted through the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire Primary before dropping out and throwing his support behind Hoynes. When Hoynes was elected he appointed Santos as Secretary of Health and Human Services, a cabinet position for which he sailed through the confirmation process. He built upon the work he’d done with healthcare clinics when he served as the Mayor of Houston. For 6 years he helped millions of Americans get much needed healthcare services before leaving the post to make a bid for the Democratic nomination.

Josh had been an ad hoc advisor for the campaign, working as a consultant. He made very few public appearances, preferring to remain behind the scenes. After the election, he gave some suggestions when it came to filling the Santos Cabinet positions. He declined the offer Santos made to let him pick whatever cabinet secretary position he wanted for himself, he instead chose to remain married to Donna. He knew there was no way his marriage would survive him working full time in politics. 

“Why don’t you try to get back to a little consulting. It’ll get you out of the house for a while,” Donna teased.

“I think I’d like that. I’ll make some calls, get my name out there,” Josh said, a bit surprised Donna seemed to be encouraging him to dip his toes back into the political arena. “If I’m going to do that there is something else we need to discuss.”

“Replacing Ben?” Donna guessed as she turned off the burner and poured the water for their tea. 

“Yeah, our pesky children haven’t quite learned to drive yet,” Josh snorted. “And they keep wanting to leave the house.”

“God, I don’t even want to think about Jake learning to drive in a year and a half,” Donna groaned. “Anyway, yes we need to find someone to help out. Not necessarily live in help, although that does have its advantages.”

“Maybe Mary Poppins is available,” Josh smirked.

“I’m having trouble picturing the boys with an English nanny carrying an umbrella and a carpet bag. Thinking another male college student is the way to go. I’ll make some calls.” Donna offered as she absently stirred her tea. “So, what’s the latest update?” she asked, deftly changing the subject to Josh’s latest obsession.

“Glad you asked,” Josh said with a smile. “The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a global emergency after the number of cases spiked tenfold in the past week,” he said, reading from the article he’d pulled up on his phone.

“So maybe it is turning into something,” Donna said seriously.

“Not much talk about it on the Hill?” Josh asked as he slid his mug back and forth on the counter between his hands.

“There’s been some in the last few days,” Donna replied, shrugging her shoulders. She slid off the stool and grabbed a package of oatmeal cookies out of the pantry.

“Maybe I could parlay this obsession, as you call it, into a consulting gig,” Josh muttered.

“Not actually not a bad idea. Why don’t you make some calls next week,” Donna suggested. Josh nodded in agreement and slid off the stool. He went to check on the boys while Donna did a little reading for work.

After reading a bit more about the growing global health issue, Josh made some notes and a list of some people to call. He eventually set everything aside and got himself ready for bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Truly didn't have it in me to create a President from scratch. Thanks to whoever suggested an alternate timeline for Santos.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> text messages are in italiacs.

1/31/20

Turned out Josh didn’t have to rely on his list of contacts to get himself back into the consulting world. All he needed to do was sit down with a cup of coffee the next morning and wait for his cell phone to ring.

Mid sip he picked up the phone and for some reason took more than his usual cursory glance before pressing his thumb to answer, 202-456-1414 the Caller ID read. He blinked once and looked at the number once again before pressing his thumb against the screen to answer.

“Josh Lyman,” he said as he stood up from the kitchen table. He wedged his phone between his chin and shoulder as he picked up his coffee and cane before heading down the hall to his office.

“Good morning Josh, Ronna Beckman. Hope we’re not calling too early,” she said, glancing at the clock which read 7:45.

“Not at all, already got the boys out of the house for school,” Josh answered as he flicked on the light in the office.

“Good. Donna texted some pictures a few weeks ago, can’t believe how tall they’re getting,” she said as she glanced over her shoulder to find her boss motioning for her to hand him the phone. 

“Are you two going to be long or can I talk to Josh now,” President Matt Santos teased.

“Josh, hold for the President,” Ronna said, quickly going back to the professional persona worthy of where she was sitting. “Catch up soon,” she added quickly as she waved Santos back into the Oval Office so she could transfer the call.

“Josh Lyman, how do you feel about helping out your country?” Matt Santos said as he sat in his chair and leaned back a bit. 

“Jumped right in there, didn’t you Mr. President,” Josh teased as he too sat down at his desk and pulled out a legal pad and a pen.

“Matt,” Santos corrected, hoping one day Josh would take the hint and use his first name, at least in private.

“Okay, sir. What can I do for you?” Josh asked, ignoring the President’s correction. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and tried to squash down some of the excitement he was starting to feel.

Half an hour later, Josh was pacing around the office trying to wrap his head around the conversation he’d just finished with President Santos. After a late night meeting with his Secretary of Health and Human Services, Walter Matthews, and a few other medical experts, Santos had decided to get out ahead of the growing virus situation by declaring a public health emergency. Given the strong suspicion that the virus had originated in Wuhan Province of China, he was ready to announce he was barring from the US, foreign nationals who had traveled through China in the previous 14 days. That was where he wanted Josh to come in, to act as a sounding board for the political ramifications of his actions.

Josh made a quick call to Donna, jumped in the shower, put on a seldom used suit and tie and was on the red line of the Metro heading in DC by 10:00. As he picked up a visitor badge and signed in at the reception desk, he had a strong sense of belonging, of identity, that he hadn’t had since he’d retired from teaching almost 3 years earlier. Lately he’d been much more known as Donna Lyman’s husband, or Jake and Jessie’s Dad. Roles he cherished each and every day, no doubt about that, but he felt he’d lost a part of himself over the years. Even when he was helping to get President Santos elected, he did so from behind the scenes, actually making an effort not to be “the face” of the Santos campaign. 

Josh shoved his gloves into his backpack as he saw Ronna heading for him. He gave her a quick hug and she escorted him to her office, right outside of the Oval Office.

“Having a flashback?” Ronna teased as she scooted by him into the room fully as Josh stood in the doorway, unable to move for a good 10 seconds.

“Huh?” he muttered as he realized Ronna was holding out her hand for his coat. “Yeah, something like that,” he admitted with a little laugh.

“Coffee?” she asked as she hung up his coat on the antique coat tree in the corner of the room.

“Please,” he answered as he ran a hand through his hair and smoothed down his tie.

“Josh, come on in. Thanks for coming right over,” Matt Santos called from the doorway separating Ronna’s office from the Oval. Josh hitched his backpack higher on his shoulder, gave a little nod towards Ronna and headed into the room where he’d spent countless hours. He shook the President’s hand and took seat on one of the twin couches in the center of the room.

A steward appeared a minute later with coffee and pastries. He set everything down on the coffee table, gave a quick nod towards President Santos and Josh before disappearing without a word.

“Let’s just jump right in, in case you actually had plans for today. I feel like I dragged you out here without warning,” Santos started as he reached for his coffee.

“Well, no offense sir, you kind of did. But not worries, I had a fun filled day of laundry and cleaning planned,” Josh assured him.

“Okay then. Last night I realized that this whole virus thing is not going anywhere soon. And I know I’m going to have to make a lot of decisions very soon for the safety of everyone. As much as this is not about me at all, I do need a little political perspective on things. And that’s where you come in as the most politically minded person I know, outside of the great Leo McGarry.”

“Thank you for that compliment,” Josh said sincerely. “I’ve been out of the loop for a little while but I have been reading about the virus. Donna calls it my latest obsession,” he added with a chuckle.

“Fiona the Hippo has been replaced?” Santos teased.

Josh just let out a little unrefined snort. He wiped his mouth with a napkin and reached in his backpack to pull out a legal pad and pen. President Santos grabbed a binder and a pen off the Resolute desk, settling in the armchair in front of the fireplace.

********

Two hours later, Josh shoved everything back in his backpack and bid the President goodbye. They’d sketched out what he needed from Josh at that moment and what he may need in the coming weeks or months. He tried briefly to get Josh to come on board full time by dangling a Presidential Advisor title in front of him. Not for a second did Santos believe Josh would take him up on the offer but it was one he felt he should make anyway. 

It was a few minutes before 1:00 when Josh exited the building and walked through the gate onto Pennsylvania Ave. He took a deep breath, buttoning his coat up against the January wind. Unsure of his next destination, he crossed the street to Lafayette Park, trying to get away from the crowds of tourists. He fished his cell out of his pocket and texted Donna.

_JL-Well that was interesting_

_DL-Way to be vague Joshua. We’re not about to have a fight about you working 18 hour days are we?_

_JL-Nope. In fact, I turned down a full time Presidential Advisor position_

_DL-without consulting me_

_JL-didn’t really see the point, I wasn’t going to accept._

_DL-good boy. You eat lunch yet?_

_JL-Nope, you?_

_DL-no, you want to head down Pennsylvania Ave and join me for lunch?_

_JL-perfect, see you soon._

Josh slipped the phone back in his pocket and headed towards 15th St. so he could hail a cab. He had briefly contemplated walking to the Capitol but it was really cold and there were patches of ice on the sidewalks, patches which did not go all that well with his cane.

**********

Donna was on the phone when he arrived so he tossed his backpack on one of her visitor’s chairs and wandered around to say “hi” to whoever happened to be around. He’d already greeted Donna’s long time assistant, Megan who had met him at the door. Senator Fernandez himself chatted with Josh for a few minutes until he was called away for a meeting. Josh let nothing about his morning slip by during his short conversation with the Senator.

“Josh,” Donna called as she hung up the phone.

“Hey, honey,” he said as he stuck his head back in her large, tastefully decorated office.

“Wow a suit,” she teased as she ran her hand over his chest, smoothing down his tie.

“Yeah, I think I may have to go shopping. I have a total of two suits which fit and I don’t particularly like either of them.”

“We can go do that tomorrow. So, I ordered lunch. We can talk in peace and quiet instead of the Capitol cafeteria.”

“Okay,” Josh said as he pulled his tie loose and slid it out from under his collar, folding it up and slipping it in the pocket of his suit jacket, before removing that as well.

“Anything else you plan on taking off?” Donna teased as she kicked off her heels as sank into her couch, tucking her feet under her.

“Really?” Josh snorted as he glanced at the open door which led out to Megan’s desk.

“No, you idiot,” Donna snorted as she shook her head at her husband.

Josh told Donna about his meeting with President Santos over tacos and chicken tortilla soup. Much to his surprise she didn’t break out a piece of paper to make some RULES. She was supportive and shared his enthusiasm about the whole thing. 

When they were done eating, Josh cleaned up while Donna went to speak with the Senator for a few minutes. Truth was, Senator Fernandez was on a bit of a fishing expedition. He figured something was up if Josh turned up in the office in the middle of the day, wearing a suit. Donna briefed him quickly and vaguely. Then he told her to take an early day and head home with Josh. She happily accepted his offer.

*********

Josh and Donna pulled into the driveway as the boys turned the corner. They saw the van and ran down the street, worried something was wrong.

“Whoa, slow down,” Josh said as he slid out of the van and was bombarded with questions from the boys. “Nothing is wrong. I had a meeting in the city and I met Mom for lunch,” he explained as he opened the sliding door to grab his backpack. 

“Okay, good,” Jessie announced as he took Josh’s backpack in his free hand and carried it into the house.

The next 10 minutes were the usual flurry of backpacks, lunch boxes, snacks and everyone talking at once. Josh left the melee to go change out of his suit. He pulled on an old pair of jeans and a GWU hoodie before shoving his feet into his slippers and rejoining the rest of the family. The boys were sitting at the table with the old standby snack of apples and peanut butter while deciding what kind of pizza to order for dinner. 

“So Dad, what was with the suit?” Jake asked as Josh came into the kitchen and filled the tea kettle with water.

“Had a meeting today,” Josh answered vaguely, pretty much to annoy Jake just a bit.

“Daaad,” Jake whined as he grabbed four mugs out of the dish drainer and set them on the counter. 

“Okay, I had a meeting with the President,” Josh said, once again giving a minimal amount of information. Both boys just glared and he gave in and motioned for them to take a seat so he could explain everything. “So, you’ve both heard of the coronavirus, right.”

“Yeah and you can’t get it from beer,” Jake snorted, in the direction of his younger brother. Jessie kicked him under the table, a gesture which was not met with any punishment from his father.

“True. Anyway, it looks like it is something which will be around for a while. President Santos wanted to see me to get my perspective on some political aspects of the situation. So, I threw on a suit and went to the White House this morning.

“Are you going to work at the White House?” Jessie asked.

“Not full time, no,” Josh explained. “I’m sure I’ll be there some days and I’ll certainly be doing work from home. With everything so unclear right now my role isn’t well defined or anything. That will probably happen eventually. Or maybe not, who knows. Any questions?”

“What about us?” Jessie asked.

“Well, your mom and I talked briefly about that last night. While you’re old enough where you don’t need a nanny, you aren’t exactly completely self-sufficient.”

“Yes we are,” Jake said with as much indignation as one could with a smear of peanut butter on his chin. 

“We don’t drive you dork,” Jessie snorted as he rolled his eyes. His comment was also met with a kick under the table. 

“Yes, that’s our biggest issue,” Donna chimed in as she set three mugs of tea on the table for her boys. “We’ll figure it out, we always do.”

Donna took her tea into the bedroom to get changed while Josh and the boys finished the debate about the pizza for dinner.

At 8:00 the four members of the Lyman family sat together in the family room and watching as President Santos addressed the nation from the White House.


	5. Chapter 5

2/11/20

It had been 10 days since Josh had agreed to help President Santos on a strictly consulting basis. He’d done much of his research and work at home, having spent some time that first weekend getting his office in order to actually work out of it for an extended period of time. He’d also spent an afternoon at Bonobos in Georgetown shopping for a few suits with Donna. If it had been up to him, he would have gone to the nearest discount clothing store and picked a few things off the rack. But Donna insisted he get some nicer things if he was going to be in and out of the White House for the foreseeable future. He balked but only a little.

So things were settling into some kind of routine for the whole family. The only thing they hadn’t done was hire someone to help out at home, but so far they’d been able to cover everything, with a little creativity at times.

Josh wandered down the hallway towards the kitchen to refill his coffee that Tuesday morning. He’d teased Donna about getting a small coffee maker for his office so he’d wouldn’t have to make the 25 foot trek to the kitchen every time he felt the need for more caffeine. Donna nixed that idea, after a bout of laughter and some unladylike snorting. As he poured the coffee he saw the mail carrier come up the walk. He met him at the door, exchanged a few pleasantries and headed back inside with the mail. The flyers were tossed in recycling basket on the bench in the foyer and he took the rest of the mail into the kitchen and dropped it on the table as all there seemed to be were a few bills. One cream colored envelope peeked out from the bottom of the pile. It looked rather official, so Josh picked it up and read the return address----St. Alban School. Josh held it in his hand, it had some weight to it. Josh hoped that meant Jake had been accepted, if he hadn’t gotten in the letter was likely to be a one page generic letter letting Jake know of their decision.

Josh fished his cell phone out of the back pocket of his jeans. He took a quick picture of the envelope and sent it to Donna.

_JL-fingers crossed he got in_

_DL-God I hope so, he’s been so excited about the possibility. He’s still talking about us going to church together a few weeks ago._

_JL-Well, it’s either going to be a great night in the Lyman house or it’s going to totally suck_

_DL-You haven’t tried to hold it up to the light?_

_JL-of course I have_

_DL-looks like a thick envelope, that’s a good sign right?_

_JL-I sure hope so. I have to run, video call in a minute, have to do something with my hair_

_DL-You do that. See you later, love you_

_JL-Love you too_

Josh set the letter on the corner of his desk, ran his fingers through his hair and got ready for the first video call of the day. He still hadn’t quite gotten used to that mode of communication but he was getting better. The boys used Zoom to talk to their cousins, both blood cousins and the “cousins” who were family to them through the common bond of Jed Bartlet. So they offered to give him some hints for angling his laptop, muting the microphone when appropriate and making sure embarrassing things weren’t in the background.

Ten minutes before the boys were due to arrive home Josh put on the tea kettle and set out some muffins he and Jessie had baked over the weekend. He was more nervous than he thought he would be as he turned the St Alban letter over in his hands a few times. He hoped it was good news, he could use it. Two hours earlier the World Health Organization had given an official name to what they had been calling the novel coronavirus. Henceforth it would be known at COVID-19. Getting an official name made it all the more real in Josh’s mind.

“Dad,” he heard the boys yell from the foyer.

“Kitchen,” he called over his shoulder as he turned off the stove and poured 3 mugs of tea, the preferred beverage of the boys for their afternoon snack since they’d been old enough to drink it without burning their tongues every time. He set the mugs on the table and stepped back to lean against the counter. 

“No White House today?” Jessie asked as he took a seat at the table and reached for a muffin.

“Nope, did stuff here, had a few video meetings,” he said as he reached to pull the envelope out of the pocket on his jeans. He set it down in front of Jake without a word.

Jake just stared at the envelope for a few seconds. He wiped his hands on his jeans and took a deep breath before picking it up. He turned it over and just as he was about to tear it open, he stood up and walked out of the room. Jessie tried to follow him but Josh stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Josh and Jake waited, with fingers crossed, for what seemed like an eternity.

“Yes,” Jake yelled from the living room. “I got in, I got in.” He came back into the kitchen with a huge fist pump. He ran into Josh’s arms, nearly knocking his father over. Jessie joined in the hug too. Josh pressed a kiss to Jake’s forehead.

“I am so proud of you buddy,” he said as he brushed away the little tears forming in Jake’s eyes. He made no effort to wipe away his own tears. Even Jessie teared up a little, basically because everyone else was crying.

“I’m proud of me too,” Jake said with a big grin. Josh pulled out his iPhone and the 3 of them made a FaceTime call to Donna to tell her the good news. 

“So what should we do to celebrate?” Josh asked, when everyone had calmed down just a little. They were still on the call with Donna.

“Comet Ping Pong,” the boys answered simultaneously.

They firmed up the plans to meet Donna there at 5:30 so they would have time to eat and play games before it got too late since it was a school night. Jake went to call a few of his friends to tell them the good news while Jessie started his homework.

“Hey Dad.”

“What Jess,” Josh asked as he put away the last two muffins and rinsed the mugs from their tea.

“Who names diseases?”

“What do you mean?” Josh asked as he turned around a kitchen chair and straddled it. He had a feeling this question was going to lead to more.

“I heard the virus is called COVID-19. Who named it that?”

“The World Health Organization or WHO named it. The disease is actually called COVID-19, CO for corona, VI for virus and D for disease. The virus itself is called Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2,” Josh explained. “Does that answer your question?”

“I think so,” Jessie said carefully as he bit his bottom lip a little as he usually did when contemplating something. It was a habit he’d had since he was very small boy. 

Jessie had always been more sensitive than his brother, more easily worried and anxious. It was something Josh and Donna kept a close eye on. Since Josh had been home more over the previous few years they hadn’t been as worried about Jessie. But the growing virus was certainly the kind of thing which he would obsess over if given the chance. Josh made a mental note to talk to Donna about his concerns later that night.

“Were kids talking about the virus at school?” Josh asked curiously.

“No, I was googling it at lunch.”

“Well, first of all, your phone is not supposed to be out during school and second of all, please talk to me instead of googling things, okay?”

“Okay Dad,” Jessie whispered as he turned his attention back to his science homework.

“How much homework do you have?” Josh asked as he stood up and grabbed his cane.

“Two more questions and then I’m done,” Jessie announced after taking a quick look at his planner.

“Good, let me go check on your brother.”

Josh climbed the stairs to see what Jake was up to, hopefully he was doing his own homework. He found Jake sitting on his bed with his laptop balanced on his knees, AirPods in, books spread out on his bed. Jake picked up his phone and turned the music off.

“Leaving in about an hour, how much homework do you have left?” Josh asked as he leaned against the door jamb.

“About half an hour and I still have some people to call. Can I call Aunt Abbey and Uncle Jed?”

“Of course, you don’t have to ask me to do that,” Josh said with a smile.

******

At 5:15 Josh and the boys climbed into the Uber he’d called to take them to Comet Ping Pong. Donna was just going to meet them there after leaving work a little early.

The boys ate their pizza rather quickly so they could go play ping pong. Josh and Donna finished up their food in relative peace but not so much quiet as the restaurant was by default a rather noisy place to be.

Eventually the boys got their parents up to play ping pong. Josh and Jake narrowly defeated Donna and Jessie in a best out of 5 series, giving them family bragging rights, until the next time. They sat back down for more drinks and dessert. Josh and Donna passed on their own dessert but had not problem helping the boys finish their Tin Roof and Caramel Sundaes.

They were home by 8:45. Jessie went up to take a shower while Jake and Donna chatted for a little while in the kitchen. Josh disappeared into his office to check his email. 

As he put his laptop to sleep Josh heard footsteps coming down the stairs. 

“Dad?” Jessie bellowed from the hallway. Josh cringed, knowing he would get blamed for his son’s bellowing ability.

“Jessie, don’t bellow like your father,” Donna called her room, her voice just a notch below bellow level.

“What’s up,” Josh asked as he moved from his desk chair to the couch. Jessie flopped down next to him, dressed in flannel pajamas, hair still wet from the shower, sticking up in all directions.

“Where should I go to high school?” he asked.

“Well, you have the rest of the 6th grade, all of 7th grade and half of 8th grade to decide if you want to go somewhere other than BCC,” Josh answered as he reached to smooth down Jessie’s blond curls a little.

“Would you be mad if I didn’t try to get into private school?” he asked quietly.

“No, of course not. Mom went to public school until she graduated from high school. I went to public school until high school. BCC is a good school.”

“You’re right, I think I have time,” Jessie teased. He gave Josh a quick hug good night and went to find Donna to do the same. 

Josh locked up for the night as Jake came down for a drink.

“Finished your homework and your phone calls?” Josh asked. 

“Yep,” Jake answered as he got himself a glass of water. “Thanks for your help with studying for the test.” 

“You’re welcome,” Josh said with a grin.

“Hey, what about my index cards?” Donna teased as she came into the kitchen wearing yoga pants and an oversized flannel shirt she’d taken from Josh’s closet.

“Thanks, Mom,” Jake said with a big hug for Donna. “Good night,” he called over his shoulder as he headed for bed.

“Night honey,” Donna called. 

“See you tomorrow buddy,” Josh called.

Donna turned out the overhead light and turned on the light over the breakfast bar. Josh slid onto a stool. 

“Do we have ginger ale?” he asked as Donna set up the coffee maker for the morning.

“Yeah. Too much pizza?” she teased as she got the requested drink out of the fridge.

“And two beers and ice cream,” Josh groaned as he popped the top on the can.

Donna picked up the St Alban letter which Jake had left on the counter.

“Deposit is due by the end of the month,” she said, glancing at the letter. “Class selection next month and he’ll spend a day there in April. Still having trouble wrapping my mind around this, how about you?”

“Yeah,” Josh agreed. “But I’m so proud of him, he really worked for this. Jessie just asked me where he should go for high school. Pointed out he has plenty of time to worry about that.”

“Yeah, he does not need to be worrying about high school right now.”

“Speaking of worrying, I think we need to keep an eye on him,” Josh said as he pulled off his glasses and scrubbed a hand over his face.

“Yeah, the more I read about the virus, or COVID-19 as it’s apparently being called, the more I realize that,” Donna sighed as she reached to give Josh’s hand a quick squeeze. “I have to take Jake in for a physical for St. Alban, I’ll take Jessie in to see Jill too, he’ll usually talk to her.”

“Of course, she bribes him with baked goods and lollipops,” Josh teased.

“She bribes you with the same things,” Donna pointed out with a grin.

“True. And I should probably check in with her too,” Josh said, before Donna could suggest the same thing.

“Good boy,” Donna smirked as she slid off the stool with a yawn. “Don’t stay up too late,” she whispered as she kissed Josh on the cheek.

Josh finished the ginger ale and went to brush his teeth. Donna was asleep by the time he crawled in bed next to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos!


	6. Chapter 6

2/29/20

It had been one month since President Santos had formed his Coronavirus Task Force. While Josh had never been formally named to the group, he was sure that an invitation to do so was coming soon. It was Saturday morning and Josh was up early for some unknown reason. Maybe because he’d actually slept well for a change. He pulled the newspaper off the front porch and started the coffee maker in the quiet predawn darkness.

When enough coffee had brewed, he poured a mug, grabbed a banana and headed for the family room. He turned on the television, landing on CNN, his own default channel. It was the top of the hour and he caught the headlines before turning his attention to the newspaper. There didn’t seem to be too many updates on the virus other than more people being tested in the Pacific Northwest.

Josh made a concerted effort to set aside the front section of the paper and turn his attention to the sports section. The Mets had beaten the Cardinals 3-2 the night before in an early Spring training game. Josh and the boys had already started to plan a few trips to Nationals Park to see some games. They also wanted to go to Baltimore to catch a game at Camden Yards. And in the case of Jake he wanted to see his friend Janie. They’d been friend for 3 years, ever since they met at summer camp. With a sigh, Josh set the newspaper aside and turned the channel to ESPN.

Jessie woke up a couple minutes before 7:00. He smelled the coffee and padded downstairs to see who was awake, mom or dad. He was headed for the kitchen when he heard the tv on in the family room.

“Hey buddy, you’re up early,” Josh said as Jessie padded into the room. “And you look exhausted, did you sleep okay?” Jessie just shrugged his shoulders and plopped down on the couch next to Josh. “You want some coffee?”

“Eww, gross,” Jessie muttered as he pulled the throw off the back of the couch and wrapped himself up in it.

“Hot chocolate?” Josh offered as he stood up to pour himself another mug of coffee.

“Sure,” Jessie replied as he picked up the remote and changed to Disney+, settling on the first Iron Man movie, a favorite of both him and Josh.

Josh made a mug of hot chocolate, put a pan of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls in the oven and set the timer. 

“Iron Man again,” Josh teased as he set the mug on the coffee table and set a napkin next to it. He motioned for Jessie to move down a little to give him some room on the couch. “I put some cinnamon rolls in the oven.”

“Awesome,” Jessie said with a little grin as he reached for his hot chocolate.

By the time Donna had woken up, Josh and Jessie had finished half the movie, half of the cinnamon rolls and in the case of Josh, almost a pot of coffee.

“Hope you two saved some for Jake and I?” she teased as he stuck her head in the family room, checking to see which child or children were awake early on a Saturday morning.

“There’s 4 left,” Jessie muttered as he pointed towards the pan. “So two for you and two for Jake. But if he doesn’t get up soon, I’m eating his,” Jessie declared.

“I heard that,” came Jake’s voice bellowing as he came down the stairs, following the sweet smell of cinnamon and sugar. He grabbed two rolls and curled up in the recliner.

“You guys wants bacon and eggs too, or just sugar for breakfast?” Donna asked as she kissed each of them on the top of the head before heading for the kitchen.

“Bacon and eggs,” the “boys” answered, without looking up from the movie.

Donna went into the kitchen, poured the last of the coffee and started another pot as the half a mug Josh had left her was not nearly enough to get her day started. As the coffee marker gurgled to life she quickly checked the calendar to make sure she hadn’t forgotten anything for the weekend. There were absolutely no plans. Jake’s basketball practice had been cancelled, he’d crossed that off the night before. She couldn’t remember the last time the four of them had a free weekend. The weather looked nice out, maybe she could get the four of them to do something outside.

“Breakfast,” Donna bellowed in the direction of the family room 15 minutes later.

“Don’t bellow Donnatella,” Josh teased. The boys snickered at his comment and were rewarded with a swat from the dish towel Donna had hanging over her shoulder as they came into the kitchen.

Jessie poured juice for himself and his brother, while Jake helped Donna get the food on the table.

“So, it’s sunny out and not freezing and we have no plans for the day. What should we do? And by that I mean, what should the four of us do together?” Donna clarified.

After a bit of lively discussion and negotiation the four members of the Lyman clan left the house at 10:30, heading for the Metro and the National Zoo.

They hadn’t been to the zoo together since the previous summer. Jessie had been there on a school trip in the fall and Josh had actually dropped by on a whim, one unseasonably warm day a few weeks before Christmas. 

It was nice for the four of them to spend the day together. As the boys got older they were understandably less interested in spending time with their parents. And all four led busy lives so doing something together on the spur of the moment didn’t happen very often.

After the zoo they went to Duke’s Counter for a late lunch/early dinner of burgers and fries. Jake had been reading the course book for St. Alban and talked animatedly about his many options. He hoped his math scores were good enough to skip freshman algebra and go right to geometry. But he wouldn’t know that until his meeting with his guidance counselor in a few weeks. 

“It’s going to be weird not having you in the same school,” Jessie muttered as he reached for the bottle of ketchup.

“We wouldn’t be together anyway, if I went to BCC,” Jake pointed out. “But yeah, it’ll be weird,” he agreed after thinking about it for a few seconds. “So, St. Alban is a boarding school. Can I live there?”

Josh and Donna had been prepared for this question all along. They were surprised it hadn’t come up yet.

“Buddy, it’s less than 5 miles from home. You could practically ride your bike there,” Josh pointed out.

“So, I guess that’s a no?” Jake asked with a grin.

“Hard no,” Donna piped up with a smile.

“It was worth a shot,” Jake muttered as he picked up his burger. “Do I have to ride my bike?” he asked. Transportation to school wasn’t something he had considered but he knew the Metro did not have a stop near National Cathedral.

“I’m thinking the Metro and a bus. Probably a better option than you riding your bike in a jacket and tie,” Donna teased. “Or you may meet some friends you can carpool with. Don’t worry, we will work that out.

“Yeah, kind of forgot about the jacket and tie part. Can we go shopping soon?” Jake asked.

“How about we wait and see if you grow a little between now and September,” Donna suggested.

“God, I hope so,” Jake agreed as he reached for the last onion ring, a second ahead of his brother.

“Now what?” Josh asked as he handed over his credit card to the waiter.

“You three figure that out. I’ll be back in a minute,” Donna said as she stood up.

The “boys” formulated a plan while Donna went to use the bathroom.

“Okay, we have a plan,” Jessie announced as he slipped on his jacket. 

“And just what does this plan involve?” Donna asked, hoping the plan didn’t a whole lot of walking. She was fine but the she could tell Josh was fading just a little. While the zoo wasn’t overly large, it was built on a hill and they had spent hours wandering around. 

“We’re going home to have game night.” Jessie announced.

“Realy?” Donna asked, a nice game night at home had been the furthest thing from her mind. She had visions of them wanting to take a trip around the monuments in the dark.

“Yeah and games that don’t plug in,” Josh chimed in as he handed Donna his cane so he could zip up his coat.

“Even better,” Donna said with a grin.

********

Game night at the Lyman house turned out to be just perfect. They played Scrabble and Apples to Apples first, sitting around the kitchen table. After those two games the boys made waffles using the seldom used waffle maker, waffles which they topped with ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. They found a 1000 piece puzzle in the closet of the family room. The boys dragged the card table out from behind the bookcase and set it up. With a Nationals exhibition game on in the background they got to work on the puzzle.

Jessie gave up on the puzzle first, ending up curled up on the couch under a blanket with a book. Josh eventually wandered into his office to check his email while Jake and Donna kept working until almost 10:30. 

*******

“Hey, thought maybe you’d fallen asleep in here,” Donna said quietly as she walked into Josh’s office a little after 11:00. Jake had helped her clean up the kitchen before heading to bed and Jessie was sound asleep on the couch in the family room..

“No, just doing a little reading,” he said, pointing towards his laptop which was opened to the CNN homepage.

“What happened?” Donna asked, taking a look at her husband’s expression, she knew something was up.

Josh pointed at the first line of an article. The coronavirus had claimed the first victim in the United States, a man in his 50s in Washington State.

“And so it begins,” Josh whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While there will of course be some political aspects to the story it is in no way a statement about how things are being handled in real life. I have made a very conscious decision not to include any real life figures in the story for that reason.
> 
> This story is a way for me to escape from my pandemic existence, if even for a little while.


	7. Chapter 7

3/5/20

Josh stood in his office drinking his second cup of coffee and watching the Today Show. Savannah Guthrie threw the show to the local news update and he set the coffee down to pack his backpack. He was only half listening when the phrase “COVID 19” caught his attention, as it usually did.

“There have been 3 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Montgomery County, Maryland as of this morning,” the local anchor said as a graphic flashed on the screen. “These are the first positive cases in the Metro DC area,” she added.

“Dad,” Jessie said quietly from the doorway. The look on his face let Josh know he’d just heard the news. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Josh asked as he turned off the television. 

“It’s getting closer, isn’t it?” Jessie asked as he pointed to the television.

“Not going to lie, yes, 3 cases here in Maryland,” Josh said as he picked up his laptop and put it in his backpack.

“Is it time to worry?” Jessie asked as he sat down on the couch to put on the blue Vans he had in his hand.

“No, you’re a perfectly healthy kid. Wash your hands once in a while,” Josh teased, earning a snort from his son.

“Okay,” Jessie answered as he pushed himself to his feet and headed down the hall.

Josh finished packing up and dropped his backpack by the front door before setting his empty mug in the sink. He wandered back to the master bedroom where Donna was just about finished getting ready for work.

“There are 3 confirmed cases in Maryland and Jessie’s already seen it on the news,” he sighed as he reached for a white dress shirt. He had a meeting at the White House, Donna was going to drop him off on the way to work, saving him a trip on the Metro. “Have you noticed him biting his nails lately?”

“Yep, I noticed that,” Donna said. “I don’t think he’s sleeping well either. At least Jake has an appointment to see Jill on Saturday morning. Jessie will tag along and maybe she’ll have time to chat with him. Noticed you didn’t make an appointment for yourself,” she added with a smirk.

“She only had time for one, you know her Saturday slots fill up quickly. I think she squeezed Jake in as it is. I’ll make an appointment while we’re there.”

“Wish I could go,” Donna added as she held out her arm and a bracelet in the general direction of Josh. “But Margaret, Zoey and I have had plans for months.”

“You know honey, I am perfectly capable of taking the boys to see the doctor,” Josh said as he fixed her bracelet and pressed a kiss to her hand. 

“I know. Just worried about Jessie. Maybe he needs to talk to someone again. It’s been a few years since the boys have seen anyone.”

“I’ll talk to Jill about it,” Josh promised as he reached for a tie and handed it to Donna. She tied the blue striped tie into a neat knot with practiced ease.

“There, good to go,” she declared as she smoothed down the tie and kissed him softly. “Leaving in 10 minutes.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said with a little salute. It was a chilly, drizzly morning so Donna dropped the boys at school, before heading into the city. She dropped Josh at the corner of 17th St and Pennsylvania Ave, by the OEOB, before heading to the Capitol.

3/7/20

“Ah, the Lyman boys, my favorite guys,” Dr. Jill Connors announced as Josh and the boys entered her office at 11:00 on Saturday morning.

“Hey, Dr. Connors,” the boys said with a little wave as they took off their coats and hung them up on the hooks in her waiting room.

“Hey, Jill, thanks for squeezing Jake in,” Josh said with a quick hug.

Jill had been treating the family since before the boys were born. She was much more than their doctor, she was a true friend. She was patient with all of them, particularly Josh. She was also someone Jessie was comfortable around. He would usually open up to her. He held a soft spot in her heart, he was one of the few patients she would make a house call for.

“Okay Jake, you ready to come?” Jill asked. He nodded and followed her down to the scale at the end of the hall. Much to his delight, he had grown an inch and a half in the previous 6 months. Jake went into the exam room, declining Josh’s offer to come with him.

Jake came back out 10 minutes later with a grumpy look on his face.

“What’s up buddy?” Josh asked, pretty sure he knew the answer.

“Bloodwork,” he announced with a snort.

“Yeah, well, you knew that was going to happen,” Josh said. “Lab down the hall open?” he asked Jill.

“For another half hour, you should be able to get in,” she said as she handed Jake the script for his bloodwork and a lollipop from the bowl at the desk. “Jessie, you want to hang out here?” Jill asked, with a small wink in Josh’s direction. Josh had texted her a few days earlier, briefly sharing the concerns he and Donna had about their younger son.

“Sure,” Jessie answered as he stood up. 

Josh and Jake left the office, heading down the hall towards the lab.

“I just got some boxes of supplies in. You want to help me put them away?” Jill asked as she ruffled Jessie’s blond curls.

“Sure,” he answered. On the way to her supply room he stopped to measure himself. He’d grown an inch since the last time.

Jill let him make small talk for a few minutes. He told her about their recent trip to the zoo and what they were working on at school. When he didn’t seem to be steering the conversation anywhere near what she wanted to talk about she took it upon herself to change the subject.

“So, your Dad told me he’s working at the White House again.”

“He doesn’t always go to the White House. But he’s working with President Santos on the virus. Did you know 3 people in Maryland have it.”

“I do. Actually, the DC mayor announced this morning that one person in the District has it. Are you worried about getting it?” Jill asked as she handed Jessie a box to put on the shelf. 

“I don’t know. Should I be? Dad says,don’t worry and wash your hands,” he said with a little laugh as he opened up the next box.

“Well, Dad’s a pretty smart guy,” Jill answered with a smile.

“Did Mom and Dad ask you to talk to me?” Jessie asked as he glanced away from Jill.

“Yeah, they did,” Jill answered honestly. “They’re concerned about you. You’re a born worrier, always have been, right?”

“I guess so,” Jessie said as he shrugged his shoulders.

“Come on, I’ll finish this later,” Jill said as she turned out the light and lead Jessie to her office. He took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the desk. Jill sat in her chair, leaning back to prop her sneaker clan feet on the corner of the desk. 

“I think about it sometimes. Even though Dad says not to, I google stuff too,” he admitted as he shoved his hands in the pocket of the gray Notre Dame hoodie he was wearing. 

“Well, you should probably not google random things. Your Dad will talk to you. Mom’s worried you’re not sleeping well. Any truth to that?”

“I guess so,” Jessie whispered as he fidgeted in the seat. 

“Too many thoughts in your head?” Jill guessed. Jessie just nodded. “I’m going to suggest you try Melatonin at bedtime.”

“Sleeping pills?” Jessie asked, sitting up straight.

“It’s something natural, no prescription. Give it a try, if Mom and Dad agree. What about talking to someone?” 

“Like Jake and I used to talk to Louis?” he asked, talking about the family therapist the Lyman’s had worked with a few years earlier. It had helped all of them but over the years they gradually stopped seeing him. Josh still saw his therapist, Tom, on a regular basis, but the boys and Donna hadn’t seen anyone in almost 2 years.

“Exactly. I don’t know if it will be Louis, but someone like him,” Jill explained. “And you can talk to me, you know that, right?”

Jessie nodded as he swiped away a few little tears he’d been trying to hold back. Jill pushed a box of tissues in his direction. He pulled one out and wiped his eyes before shoving the tissue in the pocket of his hoodie. 

“How about you text me next week and tell me how you’re doing?” Jill offered as she wrote her cell number on the back of one of her cards and slid it across the desk. Jessie took the card and slipped it between his phone and the Iron Man phone case he’d gotten for Christmas. They heard the door to the office open and Josh and Jake calling out for them.

“Back here,” Jill answered as she stood up. Jessie gave her a quick hug and she pressed a kiss his temple, he was too tall for her to kiss the top of his head anymore.

“How’d it go?” Jill asked, the fact that Jake had a band-aid both in the crook of his arm and on his hand led her believe it hadn’t exactly gone smoothly.

“Had to stick me twice and Dad had to put his head between his knees,” Jake said as he hitched his thumb in Josh’s direction.

“Okay enough about me,” Josh groaned as he pulled his wallet out of his pocket. “You two go next door to Starbucks and get a snack,” he suggested as he handed them some money.

“They want to talk about me,” Jessie muttered as he headed out of Jill’s office with a wave in her direction.

“Almost passed out?” Jill teased as she motioned for Josh to take a seat. He declined the offer, deciding instead to pace around the office.

“No comment. Did he talk to you?”

“A little. Admitted he’s worried about the virus and that he’s been googling things. I suggested he turn to you instead of Google. Which means you need to be honest with him. He knows about the positive case in the District,” Jill said.

“Okay. And yeah, I have to remember he’s not a little boy anymore.”

“He’s not and on top of that he’s an old soul. Not to mention more perceptive than most people twice his age,” Jill added with a smirk.

“He gets that from his mother.”

“Obviously,” Jill said with an unladylike snort. “Says he’s not sleeping well. Try Melatonin, 6 milligrams should be fine. I think he needs to talk to someone. He seems open to the idea. I would try Louis first, they seemed to have a good rapport.”

“I’ll make some calls,” Josh said as he leaned against the wall, gently bouncing his head, a habit he’d had for the better part of 20 years.

“Good. Text if you need anything. I told Jessie to do the same,” Jill said as she held out her hand to pull him away from the wall. 

“Thanks,” Josh replied with a smile. “You want to join us for coffee?”

“No, going to wrap up here and head home. I have a date tonight,” she announced with a smile.

“Gomer?” Josh teased. Jill had a less than stellar dating record, something he liked to tease her about.

“Hope not, I really like this one,” Jill said with a smile.

“Hope it works out too. Dinner soon?” Josh asked as he slipped his coat on.

“Only if you’re making lasagna,” Jill teased.

“Deal,” Josh said as he gave her a quick hug. “Thanks for fitting Jake in this morning and Jessie too.”

“I always have time for the Lyman boys. Talk to you soon,” Jill grinned, waving as Josh headed out the door.


	8. Chapter 8

3/11/20

It was an unseasonably warm March afternoon so Josh took his post lunch cup of coffee out to the front porch with a handful of cookies he and Jessie had baked over the weekend. His services weren’t needed for any meetings, outside of the one he’d already attended, virtually, earlier that morning. As expected, he had been formally named to the Coronavirus Task Force on Monday. A designation which didn’t really change his life all that much, except to give a little more street cred in the eyes of his sons, particularly Jake.

He had taken a book out with him but didn’t get much further than a few pages before closing it back up and just enjoying the sun and relative silence of the afternoon. His eyes slid closed for a few minutes until he heard someone coming up the walk. He cracked them open and pushed his glasses back up on his nose where they belonged as their next door neighbor, James made his way up the front steps.

James Weldon had lived next door for, well, longer than the Lyman family had lived on the quiet Bethesda street. He was in his early 70s and lived alone, having lost his wife to cancer when he was in his early 60s. Never remarried, he had two sons who lived on the west coast. Only recently retired completely, he was an IT guy by trade. Josh and Donna tried to keep an eye on him, invite him over for dinner once in a while. From a very young age Jake and Jessie would wander over to his house to say hi. They did that often enough that James eventually just put a gate in the fence separating the two backyards.

“Afternoon Josh,” James said as he set the cookie tin he was returning on the bench by the front door. “Thanks for the brownies,” he added. Jessie had baked brownies a week or so earlier and dropped some off for his favorite neighbor.

“You’re welcome. Have a seat,” Josh offered as he motioned vaguely towards a chair. “Cookie?”

“No, I’m good thanks. But I’ll take a cup of coffee,” James said with a smile. Josh started to stand when James waved him off. “I know where it is,” he teased as he reached for Josh’s mug so he could refill it.

“So, how’s the pandemic business going?” James asked when he came back out. He handed Josh his coffee and took a seat, stretching his long legs out in front of him.

“Too busy,” Josh muttered. “This is not going anywhere fast,” he added with a sigh. “Got officially named to the Task Force on Monday.”

“How’s that going to change things for you?”

“I have a feeling it’s going to mean more time at the White House. Not that I’m complaining, although it’s not exactly the way I envisioned getting myself back into politics. Was just sitting here trying to figure out some logistics. Boys have this pesky habit of wanting to the leave the house and stuff,” Josh smirked. “Been limping along for almost two years since Ben got married and moved away. Donna’s looking into someone to help out a bit. Boys think they’re too old for a nanny and while I agree they don’t need someone around at all times, they can’t ride their bikes everywhere. We basically need a live in Uber drive,” Josh teased.

“I might be able to help you out with that?”

“You taking up a second career as an Uber driver?” Josh asked with a grin.

“No, but I am quite bored,” James explained.

“You’ve been retired for 6 months, how can you be bored already?” Josh teased.

“Not much for hobbies, the boys live on the opposite coast, with my grandchildren. They keep telling me I need a hobby. Actually, what they keep telling me is that I need to date,” James snorted.

“They have a point. Want Donna to play matchmaker?”

“She any good at it?” James asked, only half joking.

“Ben and Annie are her only success story. She’s given up on Sam and Leo,” Josh explained.

“Ah, so not too good. Which would now bring me back to my original offer. What do you need around here?”

“You’re serious?” Josh asked as he stopped the swing with his foot and turned a little to face James, who just nodded.

“Basketball practices and games, the occasional doctor’s appointments for me and the boys, picking up a few things from the store. No heavy shopping, Donna doesn’t trust anyone but herself to do that,” Josh explained.

“What about for you?” James asked, pointing at Josh.

“Ride to the Metro once in a while when I’m not up to making the three-block walk. And continued IT assistance,” Josh teased. James had already been over more than once to help Josh with his adventures in working remotely. “What’s your price?”

“Dinner once in a while and baked goods from Jessie,” James stated simply.

“And gas money,” Josh said in a tone which left James no choice but to agree to the offer.

“Sold,” James announced as he leaned forward and shook Josh’s hand. 

“Do you want to come in and take a look at the calendar?” Josh asked as he pushed himself to his feet.

“Perfect,” James replied as he stood up and grabbed the coffee mugs while Josh picked up his cane. He was having a bit of trouble with his back and hip that day and was using the cane around the house.

For the next half hour or so Josh and James went over the family’s schedule on the wall calendar. James took a few notes on days he would definitely be needed and told Josh to ask when something came up. James promised to turn down a request if he had plans. 

The two of them polished off the rest of the pot of coffee, sitting around the kitchen table chatting about nothing in particular. Jessie arrived home about 3:15. Jake was going to a friend’s house to work on a project for school.

“Dad?” Jessie yelled from the foyer.

“Kitchen and don’t bellow,” Josh called back, his voice on the edge of bellowing, earning a laugh from James. Jessie toed off his shoes and slid them to the corner or the foyer, where his mother was less likely to trip over them when she got home.

“Hey, Dad. Hey, James,” Jessie said as he slid into the kitchen in his socks. He grabbed a cookie out of the cookie jar and a bottle of Snapple out of the fridge before sitting down at the table. He was quiet as he ate his snack. Usually he was chatty as could be when he got home. Josh and James exchanged a few concerned glances across the table.

“Well, I should be heading home,” James announced when he got the distinct feeling Jessie had a lot on his mind.

“Thanks for everything,” Josh said as he walked James to the door. Jessie did give a little wave goodbye as James headed for the door.

“Text if you need anything,” James said as he motioned towards the kitchen and a rather sullen 12 year old.

“How was school?” Josh finally asked when he returned to the kitchen.

“Fine. People are saying school is going to close because of the virus,” Jessie said as leaned over the table, propping his chin on his crossed arms.

Josh pulled up the chair next to him, straddled it and reached over to put his hand on Jessie’s shoulder. The possibility of school closures was the topic of the meeting he’d had earlier with members of the Task Force.

“Well, at my meeting today that was one of the things we talked about. The feeling is, the less people are out and about, the less chance of spreading the virus. Right now, a lot of governors are talking about closing school for two weeks or so. Doing a thorough cleaning of the school and hopefully slowing down the spread of the virus. Make sense?” Josh explained carefully.

“Yeah, but it sucks,” Jessie said as he steeled himself against a reprimand for his choice of words. 

“Well, your mom’s not fond of that word, but yes, it sucks,” Josh agreed as he reached to ruffle Jessie’s hair. “I imagine things are going to happen quickly. My suggestion is that if you have anything in your locker at school that you want at home, you bring it home tomorrow.”

“Will you and mom have to homeschool Jake and I?” Jessie asked as he pulled at a loose thread on the placemat in front of him.

“Well, it will most likely be online school. You’ll get assignments on the computer. Maybe even attend class like I attend my meetings. So not exactly homeschooling, so don’t worry about that,” Josh teased.

“I guess that might be kind of cool, for a little while,” Jessie grudgingly agreed. “Anything else happen in your meeting?”

“Well, COVID 19 was declared a pandemic today.”

“What does that mean?” Jessie asked as Josh’s cell phone rang. 

“Well, I’m going to take this call. Why don’t you google to find out what pandemic means. And just google that,” Josh added. Jessie nodded. “Hey Sam,” Josh said as he headed down the hall to talk to his best friend.

************

“So, I think I figure out the solution to our nanny problem,” Josh announced cryptically over roast chicken and mashed potatoes that night at dinner.

“Really?” Donna asked, having no idea what in the world he was talking about.

“We’re too old for a nanny,” Jake whined, sounding much like a child who did need one.

“Okay, I found a solution to our driver problem, better?” Josh smirked.

“What would be better Joshua is if you actually told us what this secret plan is,” Donna snorted. “And it better not be like your secret plan to fight inflation,” she added.

“Ouch Dad, you need some aloe for that burn?” Jake teased as he reached for the bowl of potatoes.

“Dad, tell us what the heck you’re talking about,” Jessie said, loudly over the laughter of Donna and his brother.

“Okay. James stopped by this afternoon to drop off the cookie tin. We were talking about the Task Force and he asked how my being named to that would have an effect on the family. I mentioned the need for a live in Uber driver. Says he’s bored and wants to help out,” Josh explained.

“Really, he wants to shuttle you and the boys around in his spare time?” Donna asked, eyebrows raise.

“Apparently so. Wanted a home cooked meal and some baked goods in return. I told him he was getting gas money too and that he should feel free to decline any requests if they interfered with his life. But as he pointed out, he doesn’t have much of a life at the moment.”

“Well, there is this new lady at work,” Donna said, her little matchmaking wheels starting to turn.

“I don’t think he’s looking to date anyone, Cupid,” Josh teased as he reached for a roll and the butter.

“I like hanging out with James,” Jessie said with a grin.

“Then it’s settled?” Josh asked the room in general. He got three blond nods in reply. 

After dinner Donna and Jessie cleaned up while Josh took Jake into his office to tell him the same thing he told Jessie about bringing things home from school. Much to Josh’s surprise, Jake did not seem all that excited about two unexpected weeks off from school.

********

3/12/20

Josh hung up the phone with a little feeling of hope. He’d spoken with Louis, the family therapist who had worked with the family a few years back. He had some openings and was more than happy to have Jessie some back to see him. He had an opening the following afternoon so Josh texted James to see if he was available. As expected, James was more than happy to help out. With a quick glance at the time, Josh went to change his shirt and do something with his hair before his video call.

As his call was wrapping up he got a text from Donna. 

_DL-just got an email from the Superintendent of Schools. Closed starting Monday for two weeks._

_JL-Knew that was coming. Louis can see Jessie tomorrow. I have to be at the White House in the morning but should be back in time. James can drive him. If I’m done early enough James will pick me up, if not I’ll just grab an Uber and meet them there._

_DL-sounds like perfect timing, with the announcement about school. Did you tell Louis that Jessie’s not sleeping well, and that he’s anxious._

_JL-of course I did._

_DL-sorry, I know you did. Just worried about him._

_JL-me too._

_DL-I’ll probably be late tonight. Billy’s got a meeting about the virus at 5:00 and asked me to stick around. Could be pretty late._

_JL-no problem. I’ll save you some leftovers._

_DL-thanks, I have to run. Love you, see you later._

_JL-love you too._

The boys arrived home, right on time. Josh met them at the front door. Jessie was coming up the front steps slowly, part of that was probably due to his overstuffed backpack. But Josh could tell there was more to it, and unfortunately, he knew exactly what was wrong.

“Let me take that, buddy,” Josh said as he held out his hand for Jessie’s backpack. Jessie let his Dad grab with backpack and he shuffled in the house and ran up the stairs. Jake had stopped to grab an Amazon box off the step before following Josh into the house.

“He’s a little upset,” Jake said, pointing out the obvious. Despite their brotherly quarrels and competitive natures, the boys adored each other and sometimes it even showed.

“Yeah, I knew he would be. How about you?” Josh asked as he dropped Jessie’s backpack on a kitchen chair.

Jake just shrugged his shoulders. “I guess I’ll miss school. Our teachers kept reminding us that it’s not a vacation. We’re getting work to bring home. They’ll post stuff online. I think it’s just going to be weird,” he explained as he opened the fridge for a snack.

“Yeah, this whole thing is weird,” Josh agreed with a sigh. “Think I should go up and check on him?” he asked, pointing towards the stairs.

“I think he needs a little space,” Jake said softly.

Josh and Jake had a snack and talked a little before Josh did head upstairs to check on Jessie. Not surprisingly, Josh found him curled up on his bed, facing the window. He glanced over his shoulder at the sound of Josh’s cane as he came in the room.

“Hey buddy,” Josh said as he walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down by Jessie’s feet. 

“Hey Dad,” Jessie muttered as he swiped at his eyes. He pushed himself up a little to lean against the headboard. “Guess you heard?”

“Yeah, there was an email from the school. And I just talked to Jake for a little while,” Josh said as he tapped his cane against the floor a few times.

“I went through my locker and brought some stuff home.”

“Yeah, kind of figured when I grabbed your backpack and nearly fell over,” Josh teased. “So, I called Louis today. He has time to see you tomorrow. James will take you. You’ll either pick me up on the way or I’ll meet you there, okay?”

“Okay,” Jessie answered as he pulled his legs up, wrapping his arms around his shins. 

“You want to come down and have a snack?” Josh said as he stood up.

“Yeah. And I’ll unpack my backpack,” he added as he ran his hand through his curls, standing them on end.

“You need a haircut,” Josh pointed out.

“I think we all need haircuts,” Jessie corrected. “Saturday morning?”

“Sounds good,” Josh agreed.

Josh watched as Jessie headed downstairs. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering if the haircut on Saturday would be the last one for a while.


	9. Chapter 9

3/13/20

“We’re going to be late,” Jessie announced as Josh slid into the passenger’s seat of James’ SVU on Friday afternoon.

“We are not,” Josh insisted as he glanced at his watch. At least he hoped they’d make it to Jessie’s appointment with Louis in time. His meeting had run late and he knew they were cutting it close. President Santos had just declared a National Emergency and he had trouble sneaking out the of White House due to the announcement.

James eased the car into a parking space with 2 minutes to spare. Josh gave him a grateful smile as he opened the door. Returning the smile, James reached to grab his book out of the door pocket. He realized waiting around for the “Lyman boys” could motivate him to read a little more.

Josh briefly greeted Louis before taking a seat in the waiting room and opening up the book he’d brought with him. 

Jessie followed Louis into the office and took a seat in the overstuffed chair in the corner.

“So, you’ve grown, a lot,” Louis teased with a smile as he pulled a small notebook off the desk.

“Jake’s only an inch taller than me,” Jessie said proudly.

“Bet he’s not too happy about that,” Louis guessed.

“Nope, not at all.”

“So, I assume you know why your parents, and Dr. Connors, wanted you to come back to see me,” Louis started.

“Yeah, I know. They think I’m obsessed with the virus and that it bothers me too much,” Jessie replied as he studied the small hole in the knee of his jeans.

“What do you think?”

“I think they’re probably right,” Jessie admitted with a little grin and shrug of his shoulders. “I’m not really obsessed with it. Dad told me to stop googling it. He talks to me about it. So that’s something. Mom and Dad aren’t treating me like a little kid.”

“Well, you’re not a little kid anymore, that’s obvious,” Louis pointed out. “Do you feel scared or anxious?” Jessie just nodded. “What does it mean to feel anxious for you?”

Jessie got up to pace around the room a little, grabbing a fidget spinner off the table before looking out the window at the view of the Washington Monument in the distance. “I’m not sure. Scared I guess. I can’t sit still sometimes. Mom says that might be from Dad and not part of being anxious,” Jessie clarified.

“Could be,” Louis chuckled. “What else?”

“I have trouble sleeping. Dr. Connors gave me something, melon something.”

“Melatonin?” Jessie just nodded. “Does it help?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t tried it too many times. I’m worried about falling behind if I’m not in school,” Jessie admitted as he reached for a little packet of M&Ms on the end table. He tore it open popped a few in his mouth.

“But you’re not the only one who’s not in school. Your class will work together, whether it’s at school or at home doing online work. And you’re pretty smart, I think you’ll be fine. Dad said you brought home all As again this last marking period.”

“Yeah.”

“So back to when you feel anxious. I know when you used to come with your brother we mainly talked about family stuff. But we met a few times, just the two of us. Do you remember when we talked about what it means to be grounded, to be aware of what’s happening to you physically, either in your body or in your surroundings? Basically to get yourself out of your own head.”

“Yeah, I remember there was the thing with the senses. You count backwards from 5. I don’t remember the whole thing,” Jessie said as he sat back down in the chair.

“You want to try it so you can remember it?” Louis asked as he set his pen and notebook aside.

“Okay,” Jessie answered as he pushed his glasses back up on his nose where they belonged.

“Take a few deep breaths with your eyes closed,” Louis said quietly. Jessie pulled his feet up, hugging his shins to his chest. He closed his eyes and took some deep breaths. “Okay, open your eyes and tell me 5 things you can see.”

“The baseball on the shelf, your striped socks, the newspaper on the desk, the screen saver flashing on your laptop and the dying plant on the window sill.”

“Four things you can touch.”

“The hole in my jeans, the fluffy pillow, the smooth table and my flannel shirt.”

“Three things you can hear.”

“The ticking clock, traffic and….my dad’s cane tapping on the floor in the waiting room,” Jessie said after careful consideration. 

Louis just listened for a few seconds until he heard the tapping of Josh’s cane. “Two things you can smell.”

“The hand sanitizer I used in the car and your coffee.”

“Great, what’s last?”

“Something I can taste. Chocolate,” Jessie said with a smile.

“Great job. Think you can do that at home if you’re feeling anxious?”

“Yeah. Are there other things too?” Jessie asked.

“Yep. I’ll give you some websites to check out. But no random googling,” Louis added with a grin.

They finished out their session talking about how things were at home, what Jessie was into at the moment and a few other random things which gave Louis a little more insight into where his patient was currently.

When their time was up, Jessie went out into the hall to use the bathroom while Josh and Louis talked for a few minutes.

“So, what do you think?” Josh asked paced around the room a little.

“Do you want to sit?” Louis asked with a chuckle, knowing Josh was not going to sit still. He picked up his coffee and leaned against the front of his desk. “He talked plenty. Pretty open about how he’s feeling. I can see why Jill wanted him to talk to someone. Talked about some things he can do when he’s feeling anxious. Keep an eye on him. I don’t think that being home from school is going to help the issue. He’s worried about falling behind. Told him I didn’t think that was going to be an issue,” Louis explained with a chuckle. “I agree with the use of melatonin. With no school things are bound to be a bit more lax but I’m a big fan of keeping regular hours. Wouldn’t suggest staying up late playing video games and sleeping until noon.”

“Yeah, don’t think Donna’s a fan of that either,” Josh muttered. “Will you see him regularly?”

“I can do that. To be honest, I don’t know how long I’ll be seeing patients face to face but if Jessie is comfortable with Zoom or something similar we can do that.”

“He and his brother use it all the time to talk to their cousins. He’ll be very comfortable with it.”

“Great. How about 3:30 next Thursday?” Louis asked as he nudged the mouse to wake up his laptop to check his schedule.

“Sounds good. You have my cell if you want to do it over the computer,” Josh said as he held out his hand.

******

3/14/20

Saturday morning and afternoon were busy in the Lyman household. Josh and the boys went to the barber in the morning while Donna did some research for work. Jake and Jessie rode their bikes around the neighborhood with their friends until Jake’s basketball game in the late afternoon. Everyone went to the game to cheer on Jake and his team. When the game was over they picked up Chinese food for dinner and headed home.

“Okay, you guys pick a movie while Dad and I unpack the food,” Donna said when the family arrived home after the game. Jake’s team had won in a nailbiter and Jake himself had sunk the winning basket at the buzzer. 

“I’m going to take a quick shower,” Jake said as he ran upstairs.

Jessie took that to mean he got to pick out the movie. He went into the family room, kicked off his sneakers and plopped onto the couch with the Firestick remote. He knew his mom wasn’t exactly a fan of super hero movies but she was a huge fan of Chris Pratt so he cued up Jurassic World, something he knew the whole family would agree on.

Josh and Donna brought in the food and set it up on the coffee table

“Nice choice,” Josh said as he kicked off his own shoes and pulled his shirttails out of his jeans before sitting in the recliner.

“Thought so,” Jessie muttered as he reached for an eggroll. “Do we have to wait for Jake to eat?” he asked.

“I’m coming,” Jake yelled from the top of the stairs. He flew into the room in a blur of plaid flannel pajamas and the smell of too much Axe body spray.

“God, Jake, did you shower or just douse yourself in Axe?” Josh muttered.

“He thinks the girls like it,” Jessie pointed out with a snort. His snarky comment got him a fortune cookie tossed at his ear. 

“Stop,” Donna said as she reached for the remote and started the movie. 

Everyone settled down to watch the movie and devour almost all of the large amount of food spread out on the coffee table. 

When the second Jurassic World movie ended, Josh was all but asleep in the recliner. Donna tossed a blanket over him and the boys got up to help clean up the remnants of their dinner. 

“It was a good day today, Mom,” Jake said as he put the few unfinished egg rolls in the refrigerator.

“Yeah, it was,” Donna agreed as she put on water for tea.

“Jessie, you want tea?” she called over her shoulder in the direction of the pantry where he was poking around, most likely looking for more than fortune cookies for dessert.

“Sure,” he answered as he emerged with a bag of caramel corn. He poured some in a bowl and held it out to Jake.

“So how much work did your teachers assign to you?” Donna asked as she reached for a handful of popcorn.

“I got a book assigned for English, a review packet for math and some other easy stuff,” Jessie answered as he hopped up onto the counter.

“I have a Spanish packet, some reading for English too and my math teacher said to go and try the next chapter on my own.”

“Okay. So, it’s not a vacation starting Monday morning. I’m not saying you need to get up at 6:00 or anything, but by 8:00 would be preferable. Do your work in the morning and get outside in the afternoon.”

“Can we still go hang out with our friends?” Jessie asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

“Honestly, I’m not sure. For now, I think riding your bikes or skateboards with your friends is okay. No basketball or wrestling around. Try to put a little distance between everyone.”

“But that will change?” Jake asked as he straddled a kitchen chair, much like his father was known to do.

“Yes, it will. And probably soon,” Donna admitted.

“This sucks,” Jessie said, kicking his heels against the cabinet.

“Yes, it does. And I’m not even going to correct your vocabulary,” Donna said with a smile. 

“Why don’t you finish your snack and head upstairs. I’m going to drag your father to bed.”

“Eww mom, gross,” Jake smirked.

“Remind me why I had kids,” she smirked right back. She kissed both the boys good night.

*********

Donna went to get changed into her pajamas before going back into the family room to try and wake Josh enough to get him to crawl in bed.

Josh must have woken up at some point while she and the boys were in the kitchen because the television channel had been changed and the local news was just starting. She was tossing the throw pillows back on the couch when a mention of COVID 19 caught her attention.

“This evening we are sad to announce the first death in the Metro DC area, an unnamed man from James City County in Virginia. He was in his 70s and is believed to have contracted the virus through community spread. Details are still coming in at this time.”

Donna just sat down on the arm of the recliner and leaned over to press a kiss to the top of Josh’s head. She clicked the television off, it was nothing Josh needed to know before going to bed.


	10. Chapter 10

3/16/20

Much to Donna’s surprise, both boys were up by 7:30 on Monday morning. She was just finishing up her cup of coffee when they wandered into the kitchen in search of breakfast. Working as a team, without prompting from her or Josh, who had also wandered in the room looking for a cup of coffee, they got out the pancake mix and set out making themselves a nice breakfast. 

“So, Dad and I both have to go into the city today. James knows you’ll be home by yourselves, text him if you need anything,” Donna explained as she rinsed her mug and set it in the dish drainer. “Spend a few hours on schoolwork this morning and then you can go our ride your bikes, skateboard, whatever. Take your phones with you.”

“Like they’d actually leave the house without their phones,” Josh snorted.

The boys just rolled their eyes at their father, in the same manner Josh had been rolling his eyes at Donna for over 20 years. 

“Mom, we’ll be fine,” Jake assured her as he poured the batter onto the griddle.

“I know, this is all just a little too surreal for me,” she said with a little smile. “I’m leaving in 20 minutes, you going to be ready?” she asked, turning her attention towards her husband who was casually leaning against the counter with his coffee.

“Yes ma’am,” Josh muttered with a mock salute of his coffee mug.

*********

The boys finished their breakfast and cleaned up after Josh and Donna had left for the day. After a little discussion they decided to set up their laptops and books together at the kitchen table. They put on some music, poured themselves some drinks and got to work.

James texted to check in on them a little before lunch, they were almost done their work and were about to eat something quick and go outside for a while.

*********

Josh spent the day with some of the other members of the Task Force and then had lunch with President Santos in his private dining room.

It was during their lunch they got word that the Mayor of DC and the Governor of Maryland had both ordered all bars and restaurants to operate only for takeout and delivery. The DC mayor had also made the decision to close down large businesses such as movie theaters and gyms. Maryland quickly followed suit.

President Santos called the entire Task Force back to the White House to prep for a briefing that afternoon where he would call on Americans to practice social distancing and to avoid large gatherings for a period of 14 days, in an effort to stem the spread of the virus. 

“Do you want me to stick around for the briefing?” Josh asked as the rest of the Task Force had left the room, leaving him and Matt Santos alone.

“Up to you. If you want to stick around to be a pretty face, be my guest,” Santos teased.

“In that case, I think I will head home. Try to explain some things to Jessie before he watches television,” Josh explained. “Today was the boys’ first day doing schoolwork from home. Kind of want to check in on them.”

“I understand. How is Jessie doing?” he asked. Josh had a conversation with him regarding his, and Donna’s, concerns over the emotional well-being of their youngest child.

“Hard to tell. We are keeping a close eye on him. He started back to seeing someone last week. But I imagine that will change to virtual appointments by the time Thursday rolls around.”

“He’ll be fine with virtual,” Santos assured him. Josh just nodded. “Better than his father,” the President added with a smirk. Josh just laughed as he gathered his things and shoved them in his backpack.

Josh was feeling pretty good, so he headed on foot to Metro Center and the red line which would drop him off 3 blocks from home.

***********

Donna’s afternoon was spent with a large number of fellow Chiefs of Staff from various Senators. They were starting to discuss the logistics of how things were going to be if the Senate was forced to work from home. Her head was spinning by the time she headed home a little after 5:00.

***********

As Donna headed for her car, Josh and Jessie sat in the family room to watch the Task Force briefing. Josh had come to realize that having Jessie watch with him and then talking about it kept the boy’s googling to a minimum. Most times he talked to Jessie himself as soon as the briefing was over, but today he realized he and Donna might need to talk to the boys together. The recent decisions of the Governor of Maryland and Mayor of DC would impact their lives in a big way.

As the briefing ended, Josh glanced over at Jessie who was curled up in the corner of the couch, knees hugged to his chest. He had little tears in his eyes. That let Josh know he had understood every word of the briefing and knew how his world was about to change. Josh pushed himself out of the recliner and sat next to Jessie, putting his arm around the boy’s shaking shoulders. Jessie took a shaky breath as Josh pressed a kiss to his temple. 

“How about the 4 of us talk together after dinner?” Josh said quietly. Jessie just nodded as he scooted off the couch and ran upstairs. Josh let him go with a sigh.

“What’s wrong with him?” Jake asked as he wandered in from the kitchen.

“Uh, just watched the briefly together. Things are going to change, for all of us,” Josh said simply. 

“Kind of figured, I watched it on my laptop,” Jake admitted. 

“Okay, so nothing will be shock to either of you when we all sit and talk tonight.”

“Nope. You need some help with dinner?” Jake asked.

“Sure,” Josh answered. He was quite amazed at how helpful and mature Jake seemed to be lately. That seemed to have started with his acceptance to St. Alban. Whatever caused the change, Josh and Donna were both embracing it.

Jake and Josh finished up getting dinner ready. Donna had put the stew in the crock pot before she left for work that morning, so they put some crescent rolls in the oven and set the table.

“Hello,” Donna called from the foyer just as the rolls were coming out of the oven.

“Kitchen,” Josh and Jake called over their shoulders.

Donna greeted them both with a quick kiss on the cheek before washing her hands and getting herself a drink. “Where’s Jessie?” she asked after Jake left the room to look for his phone.

“In his room. We watched the briefing and well, he gets it, understands what’s about to happen. Let’s have a little chat after dinner and then we’ll talk to the boys,” Josh suggested as he reached to pull Donna into a big hug. 

“I don’t know that we need to have a chat. There’s not much to discuss privately. I’m sure it will come up in conversation over dinner,” Donna said as she set the butter on the table. She called Jessie from the bottom of the stairs.

Three of members of the family dug into their food, Jessie not so much.

“Not hungry?” Donna as she motioned towards the nearly full bowl of stew in front of her youngest son. Jessie just gave a shrug of his shoulders as he picked at his crescent roll a little. Donna glanced at Josh for a little guidance.

“So, Mom and I figure we don’t really need to have a big conversation about what’s happening before we talk to you two. Both of you saw the briefing. So, for now, no hanging out with your friends. You can still go out and ride your bikes, skateboards, whatever, but just with each other.”

“For how long?” Jessie asked, not lifting his head up, instead staring at the little bits of roll he’d torn in pieces. 

“Jessie, please look up,” Donna started. Jessie did so reluctantly. “I don’t know, but I think it will be quite a while,” she answered honestly.  
“Do you think we’ll go back to school in two weeks?” Jessie asked as he glanced at Josh.

“No, buddy, I don’t,” Josh answered quietly.

“May I be excused?” Jessie asked. He felt little tears starting to prick at his eyes and he wanted desperately not to cry in front of Jake.

“Sure,” Donna answered. Jessie pushed the chair back, nearly toppling it over. Jake caught it and set it right as his brother ran up to his room. Josh stood up and took a step in the direction of the stairs. “Let him go,” Donna suggested as she reached to grab his hand. Josh just nodded and sat back down. The 3 of them tried to make small talk but after 15 minutes or so, Jake got up and started to clear the table, without being asked.

Josh helped Jake clean up while Donna took a few minutes for herself and went to get changed out of her work clothes. When the kitchen was clean Jake turned on the floodlights over the garage and headed out to shoot hoops in the driveway. Josh wandered around downstairs for a little while, hoping Jessie would come back down. When he didn’t, Josh headed upstairs to check on him.

Jessie was curled up on the bed facing away from the door. Josh tapped his cane on the floor to alert Jessie to his presence. The boy rolled over and Josh sat down on the edge of the bed. T was clear Jessie had been crying but the tears had stopped.

“You okay, buddy?” Josh asked as he rubbed Jessie’s back a little. His answer came in the form of a fully expected shrug of the boy’s shoulders.

“Did Jake call me a “baby” for getting upset?” Jessie asked as he pushed himself up to sit up, leaving against the headboard. He used his shirt sleeve to wipe his face.

“Not at all,” Josh answered honestly. “And if he had, he’d be sitting in his room for the rest of the night, instead of shooting hoops in the driveway.” Jessie let out a little teary chuckle. “You want to go join him?’ Josh asked, nudging his foot a little. Jessie just nodded as scooted off the bed.

“You coming too?” he asked Josh as he grabbed the hoodie hanging off the back of his desk chair.

“Sure,” Josh agreed with a smile of his own. “Whenever you need a minute to yourself, we’ll all understand,” Josh added.

“Thanks Dad,” Jessie said with a quick hug. He ran down the stairs and out the front door before Josh had barely made it halfway down the hall.

“He okay?” Donna asked when Josh came down. 

“I think he just needed a minute to himself. Let me go out with them, I promised him,” Josh explained as he grabbed his jacket off the coat tree in the foyer.

“Be careful,” Donna teased as he headed out the front door. “The last thing we need is a trip to the hospital. Josh just waved over his shoulder and headed out to the driveway to spend some quality time with his sons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos and comments.


	11. Chapter 11

3/17/20

“Hey Dad, what’s for dinner?” Jessie asked as he flopped down on the couch on Josh’s office, resting his blonde head on the arm. He’d been up early and had already eaten, read a couple chapters for English class and finished his math for the day.

“Dinner? Jessie, it’s 10:00 in the morning,” Josh muttered as he flipped through the file folders on his desk, looking for a memo he’d printed out the day before.

“Dad,” Jessie whined.

“Jess, what day is it?” Josh teased as he pulled the missing memo out and pushed his glasses up on his nose.

“Tuesday the 17th, ah,” Jessie stopped short as the little light bulb went off. “Corned beef and cabbage?” he guessed.

“Yep, and beer for mom and I,” Josh added with a grin.

“Just not the Corona,” Jessie teased.

“It’s St. Patrick’s Day, we’re having Guinness,” Josh clarified. “Mom, bought buttermilk, you want to make soda bread later?”

“Yeah, but without those gross seeds.”

“Agreed, caraway seeds are gross. Now please let me get some work done before the President of the Unites States yells at me for slacking off,” Josh teased as turned his attention back to his work.

*********

Jessie wandered upstairs to see if Jake was still busy with his schoolwork. 

“Hey, what’s up? You can’t be done already,” Jake groaned as he looked up from his laptop. 

“Yep,” Jessie snorted as he flopped down on the bed, pushing aside Jake’s discarded pajamas.

“How?” Jake whined. He’d been working for an hour and a half and was nowhere near done.

“Got up at 6:00.”

“Why in the world did you do that?” Jake asked as he stood up and turned around to straddle the chair. 

“Didn’t sleep much,” Jessie explained as he rolled over on his back, staring at the ceiling. 

“Up too late playing video games?” Jake guessed. Jessie just shook his head. “Did you take that stuff?”

“No,” Jessie whispered. “Are you almost done?” he asked, quickly changing the subject.

“Not even close,” Jake muttered. “You want to quiz me on my French vocabulary words?”

“Sure,” Jessie answered, clearly surprised that Jake wanted to spend some time with him.

An hour later both of them were fairly confident with the 50 French words Jake had put on index cards earlier in the week.

Jake went back to his laptop to finish his math. Jessie grabbed a book and read while sitting on Jake’s bed.

************

By 1:00 both Jake and Jessie were done with their schoolwork and lunch but it was cold and drizzling so going outside to run around for a while wasn’t an option. Jake went back up to his room while Jessie practiced the piano for a little while before curling up on the couch in the family room with the first Harry Potter book. He’d already read the whole series, but he figured he was looking at a lot of free time in the near future, so he had decided to start them over again.

Josh had finished cleaning up after lunch and was pacing around the kitchen waiting for the tea kettle to whistle when another member of the Task Force called him to let him know the Governor of Maryland had just pushed back the date of the state’s primary from April 28th to June 2nd. It was Josh’s next assignment to do research regarding the logistics and ramifications of voting by mail as that was the rumor about where things would eventually be heading.

Fortified by some Earl Grey tea in his favorite GWU mug and a handful of Oreos Josh settled down at his desk to start some research on voting by mail.

That’s where Jessie found him 2 hours later.

“Dad, can I start the soda bread?” he asked from the doorway. The amount of papers spread out over the room and the way his dad’s hair was sticking up in all directions let Jessie know that actually walking in the office probably was not in his best interest. So he leaned against the door jam.

“Huh?” Josh muttered without looking up. Jessie waited a beat, knowing Josh would eventually look up. “Yeah, soda bread. Mom left the recipe on the counter. Why don’t you go get out the ingredients and pre heat the oven.”

“Okay,” Jessie said as he headed for the kitchen. 

Josh wandered into the kitchen a few minutes later to check on Jessie’s progress.

“Dad, your hair looks like a lawn mower ran over it,” Jessie teased. Josh smoothed it down a little. “Better, sort of,” Jessie teased. “Can you find the raisins in the pantry?”

“What am I, the sous chef now?” Josh teased. He got the raisins out and checked on the corned beef and cabbage which Donna had put in the Crock Pot that morning. 

After putting the soda bread in the oven Josh hopped up on the counter with a bottle of Snapple. Jessie put the flour and box of raisins back in the pantry.

“So, what is all that stuff spread out over your office?” Jessie asked as he sat down on the kitchen table and tapped his laptop to wake it up.

“Doing some research on voting by mail. Maryland’s Governor changed the election from the end of April until June. We think maybe he will want to vote by mail.”

“Why?” Jessie asked curiously.

“Take two minutes to think about the answer to that while I answer this call,” Josh said as he held up his ringing cell phone. 

Jessie thought about it and had what he figured were a few good answers by the time Josh came back.

“Okay, what did you come up with?” Josh asked as he started to pull the plates out of the cabinet to set the table.

“Well, if we’re supposed to be staying 6 feet away from each other, the voting places would be too crowded and people could spread the virus. Plus, if people are sick, they can’t go out and vote,” Jessie answered proudly as he took the silverware out of the drawer.

“Nice answers,” Josh said with a smile. “And that call was from Louis. How do you feel about meeting with him over FaceTime this week? He wants to do virtual appointments for everyone’s safety.”

“That’s kind of cool. Do you have to be in the room?” Jessie asked.

“Nope, just like your appointment last week, I will be in another room. He’s emailing some release forms for mom and me to sign,” Josh explained.

“Okay,” Jessie said with a little shrug of his shoulders. He let out a large yawn as he set the napkins on the table before getting the butter out of the fridge to soften up a little.

“Did you sleep last night?” Josh asked as he stopped to take a good look at Jessie, not happy to see the circles under his eyes. Jessie was fair skinned like his mother and as a result was prone to dark circles under his eyes when he didn’t get enough sleep. 

“Not so good, I guess,” Jessie muttered.

“Did you take the melatonin?” Jessie just shook his head. “Well, try it tonight,” Josh suggested.

“Okay,” Jessie replied. “Will I do piano lessons over FaceTime?” he asked.

“Good question. I don’t know. You think that would work?” Josh asked.

“Probably, not sure Eric and I can split the parts and still play together. But I’m sure whatever we can do is better than nothing,” Jessie said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“And certainly, better than me trying to teach you,” Josh snorted.

“Dad, I’ve been better than you on the piano for a couple of years now,” Jessie pointed out as he took a step back, out of reach of the dish towel Josh was threatening to snap at him. His statement was true, he’d long ago surpassed Josh’s piano playing abilities.

“That would be true,’ Josh admitted. “Hey, you want to see if James wants to come over for dinner?”

“Is it still okay to see James?” Jessie asked.

“Yeah, mom talked to him yesterday. James isn’t really around many people, other than us. He’s going to limit his exposure to the outside world just like we are. Will go to the store when needed, just like us. But otherwise, we’re all just sticking close to home.”

“Okay, so can I go over and ask him?” Jessie asked. Much to Josh’s surprise Jessie didn’t ask more questions as he usually did when the subject of COVID and quarantine were brought up.

“Sure. I’ll take the bread out in….in 8 minutes,” Josh said as he glanced at the timer on the oven.

Jessie slipped on his hoodie and shoved his feet into his sneakers before heading out the front door. Josh had attempted to call out to him to take an umbrella, but his voice was lost in the wind and rain.

***************  
Jessie knocked on James’ door and was let in quickly as the older man had seen the boy run across the yard.

“Jessie, what are you doing out in the rain?” James asked as they stood in his foyer, his young friend dripping all over the hardwood floor.

“Came to see if you wanted to come over for dinner. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, we’re having corned beef and cabbage,” Jessie explained as he wiped the raindrops from his face. 

“I’d love too, but I’m a little curious why you didn’t just text or call,” James said as he sat down on the bench to slip on his shoes.

“Been cooped up inside all day,” Jessie explained with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Me too,” James said with a chuckle. “But if you don’t mind, I’m going to use an umbrella for the walk next door,” he teased as he headed back into the kitchen to grab his phone.

James tried to share the umbrella but Jessie realized it was a little too late for him so he took off running across the yard and through a few puddles. Donna met the pair on the front porch, just shaking her head at her youngest child and giving James a quick kiss on the cheek.

Josh grabbed a clean towel out of the laundry room and tossed it to Jessie. He dried off a little and ran upstairs to change while the rest of the group started to congregate in the kitchen for dinner.

James and the Lyman clad enjoyed their corned beef and cabbage dinner. It was a relaxed dinner, full of chatter, the boys angling for attention from their parents and James and lots of corny jokes. What was missing was talk of the virus, quarantines and social distancing.

After dinner Donna went to do a little work, the boys went to play video games and Josh and James cleaned up the kitchen, fueled by Guinness and Springsteen playing through Alexa.

**********

The next morning Josh woke up to the first reported death in Maryland, a Prince George’s County man in his 60s with an underlying medical condition.


	12. Chapter 12

3/20/20

Josh was still curled up in bed when Donna got out of the shower and wandered back into their bedroom. She was dressed in her robe with her hair wrapped up in a towel.

“Morning,” she said as she leaned over to give him a quick kiss.

“Morning,” Josh echoed as he sat up a little and wiped his eyes. He reached for his glasses and turned the light on. He watched as Donna wandered around the room, running a brush through her hair. “What time did you get home last night?” Josh asked. He’d been asleep by the time Donna had made it home from work the night before. She had worked late, the Senate was working on HR 748 Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act. Josh had also had a rough day with his hip and back and had crashed in bed by 9:30 after a long hot shower and some Advil. 

“About 10:15. How was Jessie’s virtual appointment with Louis? Did you have a chance to talk to him after?”

“I talked to him for a few minutes. Thought Jessie was a little more withdrawn than last week. He talked but just not as openly. I don’t think he’s sleeping well. Have you seen the dark circles under his eyes?”

“Yeah. He doing okay with his school work? I feel like I haven’t been around enough,” Donna sighed as she collapsed in the overstuffed chair with a sigh.

“Honey, you’ve been around the same amount as usual,” Josh pointed out as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and reached for his robe. “And let’s be realistic, you’re going to be home much more in the near future. But to answer your question, he’s doing fine with his work. Usually done by 10:30-11:00 and on the couch reading Harry Potter. I think he’s finished the first one, again, and has moved on to book two. Do you have to go in this morning?” he asked when he glanced at the clock, it was already 7:30 and Donna was still in her robe. Usually she was out the door by 7:15 at the latest.

“I’m going to work from here. Billy already went home for the weekend. You want pancakes?” Donna asked as she pulled on a pair of black leggings and a flannel shirt she’d grabbed from Josh’s closet. 

“Have I ever turned down pancakes?” Josh grinned as he pushed himself to his feet. He wavered a little and Donna reached out to steady him.

“Stand for a minute, get your bearings,” she said softly. Josh did as she suggested. Donna handed him his cane and they made their way to the kitchen. She deposited him on a stool at the counter. The coffee had just finishing brewing and she poured two mugs before grabbing the pancake mix out of the pantry.

They heard footsteps on the stairs and turned expecting to see Jessie up already. To their surprise it was Jake who was up first.

“It is Friday, right?” he asked, surprised to see both his parents still in their pajamas just sitting around with coffee.

“Yeah, you didn’t lose a day,” Donna assured him as she ruffled his hair a little as he passed by. “I’m working from home and Dad is, what is it you’re doing today?” Donna teased her husband.

“Not much really. No meetings I have to attend, unless something comes up,” Josh said as he absently stirred his coffee.

“Jessie still asleep?’ Jake asked as he poured himself a glass of juice.

“Apparently,” Josh said as Jake slid onto the stool next to him. “Has he said anything to you?”

“About what, being anxious and stuff, talking to Louis, not sleeping?” Jake replied.

“Any of the above,” Donna chimed in from the other side of the room.

“A little, I guess. Not a whole lot,” Jake muttered. “Can I help, Mom?” he asked as he pointed towards the griddle. He wasn’t exactly comfortable sharing his conversations with Jessie and wanted to change the subject, quickly.

“Of course,” Donna replied with a smile as she held out the spatula towards him. 

The 3 of them enjoyed a nice relaxing breakfast. Every few minutes Josh glanced in the direction of the stairs, hoping to see Jessie making his way down, lured by the smell of pancakes and bacon.

Jake went upstairs to get dressed and do a little work while Josh and Donna cleaned up the kitchen. When they were done, Donna headed up to check on Jessie. Josh had planned on doing that but he realized the tackling the stairs was not something he was up to right then and there. 

Donna poked her head in Jake’s room to see what he was doing. He was sitting on his bed, notebook propped on his knees, laptop next to him. 

“Working on the next chapter on your own?” Donna asked as she walked through the room to the bathroom. She put the clean towels she’d brought up with her on the shelf, put the cap back on the toothpaste and threw a stray sock in the hamper.

“Trying,” Jake muttered as he chewed on the eraser end of his mechanical pencil.

“Good luck, Dad and I will be no help with that,” Donna smirked as she crossed the Jack and Jill bathroom into Jessie’s room.

She found her youngest child in bed, flat on his back. The covers were pulled up to his chin and he was staring at the ceiling. 

“Hey,” Donna said quietly as she opened his blinds a little before perching on the edge of the bed. Jessie turned his head to face his mom. He tried to smile a little, but the smile didn’t quite reach his blue eyes. Donna brushed his curls back a little. “You okay? Did you sleep?” Jessie’s answer came in the form of a fully expected shrug of his shoulders. Donna wasn’t really happy with the dark circles under his eyes but she didn’t say anything. Jessie propped himself up a little, wiping a hand over his eyes.

“Shouldn’t you be at work?” Jessie asked as he glanced at his cell phone for the time.

“Working from home today,” Donna explained. 

“What about Dad?” Jessie asked as he pushed the covers back a little and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

“Well, Dad had a rough day yesterday, for whatever reason. So, I think he’ll probably take it easy today.”

“He kind of limped around yesterday,” Jessie said as he reached over to grab a hoodie off the floor and pull it on.

“You hungry?” Donna asked as she walked towards the door. “There’s pancakes and bacon left.”

“I guess. I’ll be down in a minute,” Jessie muttered as he grabbed his glasses and headed for the bathroom.

Donna headed downstairs to check on Josh. She was glad she was working from home as she wanted to keep an eye on both Jessie and Josh.

**************

After a quick trip to the foyer to grab her work tote, Donna set up shop at the kitchen table. Jessie was on one of the stools at the counter pushing leftover pancakes and bacon around on his plate, not really eating much. Donna made a mental note to call Jill soon and talk about her concerns.

“You want to work down here with me?” Donna asked as the glanced at Jessie over the top of her reading glasses.

“Sure,” he muttered as he slid off the stool. He turned the flame on under the kettle so he could make hot chocolate before running up to grab his laptop and his books.

Donna and Jessie worked side by side for an hour or so. She took a call on her cell and got up to wander around while she talked. After finishing the call, she realized she hadn’t seen or heard Josh since they had finished breakfast. She found him on the couch in his office. He was half asleep, book on his chest, glasses sliding down his nose. As she reached to keep the book from sliding to the floor he startled awake, clearing struggling to gain some sense of time and space. Donna put the book on the end table and nudged him over a little so she could perch on the edge of the couch.

“Hey,” Josh whispered as he took off his glasses and handed them to Donna. He rubbed at his eyes a little as Donna put his glasses on top of the book. “You okay?” she asked as she brushed a stray lock of hair off his forehead.

“I don’t know,” he muttered. “Headache. And hip and leg are still a little stiff today. Don’t know why, haven’t had too much trouble with either recently.”

“Stress and lack of exercise,” Donna said simply with just a hint of a smirk. Josh just nodded in agreement. 

“How’s Jessie?” he asked as he rolled over on his side a little, facing Donna. 

“Quiet. He got up, pushed his food around on the plate for a little while. He set up his work in the kitchen with me. Looks like he’s busy. I’m going to give him the weekend and I’ll call Jill next week. He looks exhausted, despite the Melatonin.”

“Yeah and he’s still biting his nails,” Josh added as he scrubbed a hand over his face, rubbing the stubble on his chin a bit. He hadn’t bothered to shower yet and was in need of a shave. “This is 2020, how in a first world nation are we having so much damn trouble getting a handle on this? It’s insane. And it’s not getting better anytime soon.”

“I know,” Donna said quietly as she rubbed his shoulder a little, not feeling the need to get right back to work. Josh’s cell phone buzzed on the end table and he reached over his head to grab it. He read the text and showed the phone to Donna with a sigh. DC had just reported the first COVID death in the district and the Governor of New York had just issued a “shelter in place” order. 

By the time Josh sat up and put his glasses back on he’d gotten an invite to a virtual meeting in an hour.

“You should probably shower and do something with your hair,” Donna smirked as she helped him to his feet. When she was sure he was steady enough she let go a grabbed his cane which was on the other side of the room. He gave her a quick kiss and limped down the hall towards their bathroom. 

Donna headed back to the kitchen where Jessie was working on some science questions. Jake wandered down a few minutes later with his notebook, laptop and a frustrated look on his face.

“Uh oh,” Jessie muttered. “If that’s math, you’re out of luck with Mom and Dad trying to help you,” he smirked. Donna tried to look wounded but it was the truth.

Jake set everything on the table and opened the fridge. He hunted around for a few minutes, clearly having no idea what he was looking for. According to Donna hunting aimlessly in the fridge was a Lyman male trait.

“Jake, pick something or close the door,” she said as she made a few notes on the legal pad next to her.

Jake grabbed a cheese stick before pushing the door closed with his hip. He took another look at his work and let out a frustrated breath. “I’m texting James,” he muttered as he pulled his phone out from the back pocket of his jeans. Once Jake had hit 8th grade math his parents weren’t exactly helpful, so the mathematically gifted James had stepped in and taken over. He texted James and paced around waiting for a reply. 

“Jake, stop pacing the kitchen. It’s too crowded in here. Go out and grab the mail,” Donna muttered without looking up from her laptop.

“And I’m done,” Jessie announced as he put his laptop to sleep and closed his books. 

“It’s nice out, what don’t you go shoot baskets in the driveway,” Donna suggested.

“Maybe later,” Jessie said quietly as he grabbed his things and took them upstairs. He came back down a few minutes later with his Harry Potter book. Much to Donna’s surprise he settled back down at the kitchen table to read.

Jake wandered back in the front door with the mail. He tossed it on the counter and picked up his cell as the text alert went off. “Mom, can I go next door?”

“Go. There’s a Tupperware container of James’ on the bench in the foyer, please take that with you.”

“No, problem,” he called over his shoulder, already halfway to the front door.

***************

Jake ended up eating lunch with James and hanging out for a few hours. James had a workshop in the garage and Jake liked learning some woodworking skills, things he was not going to learn from his father.

Donna finally convinced Josh and Jessie to eat something for lunch and then go outside to get some fresh air. Josh had finished his meeting and Jessie had long finished his work. They took a walk around the block and spent some time reading on the porch, both on the swing. Jessie sat cross legged at one end, Josh at the other end, gently pushing off with his foot to start the swing.

Eventually Josh set aside his book. He reached to nudge Jessie’s foot to get his attention. “Jess,” he said quietly. Jessie set his book aside and pushed his glasses up where they belonged. He didn’t say anything, but he was clearly listening, even though his gaze was focused on his gray Chuck Taylors. “So, I’m not going to treat you like a little kid. I haven’t through all of this so far and I don’t plan on changing that. So, here’s the deal, Mom and I are worried about you. You’re not sleeping, your appetite sucks and your fingernails are chewed down to nothing. What can we do to help?”

“I don’t know,” Jessie whispered as he balled his hands into fists, hiding his chewed up nails. 

Josh dragged the toe of his sneaker on the porch floor to stop the swing. He took a deep breath and just looked at his son. Jessie was a bit on the small side for his age but sitting there, clearly trying to hold back an onslaught of tears, he just looked so, so small and frightened. Although Jessie was still fairly affectionate despite being 12, Josh wasn’t sure what to do. A big part of him wanted to just pull Jessie into his lap, hold him tight and tell him everything would be okay. But he couldn’t promise that and Jessie was well past the age of just believing everything his father said. Instead Josh decided to just reach out and tip Jessie’s chin up at little. Just that one little gesture was Jessie’s undoing. He lunged towards Josh, ending up half in his lap, half still on the swing. Arms came around Josh’s neck and the tears started…from both of them. 

Starting the swing again with his right foot, Josh rubbed Jessie’s back and held him just like he did when Jessie was little. Josh gave a few aborted attempts at trying to say something but words didn’t seem to be helping, crying it out seemed to be what was best all around. 

“Now what?” Jessie evntually asked as he wiped his face on the sleeve of his sweatshirt and scooted away from Josh a little. Tears still threatened to fall from his blue eyes but his breathing was almost back to normal.

Josh pulled his glasses off and set them on the table. “I don’t know,” he answered honestly. “I’ll probably call Dr. Conners and ask what she thinks. Do you have any other suggestions?” Josh asked as he swiped at his own eyes.

“No,” Jessie whispered.

The pair looked up as they saw Jake coming across the front yard and up the stairs.

“Still have all your fingers?” Josh teased. It was what he always asked Jake when he came home from working with James. 

“All 10,” Jake answered, making “jazz hands” as he flopped into the chair next to the front door. “We were working on a bookcase for his office. You should come next time Jessie.“

“Maybe,” Jessie muttered.

“You wanna shoot some hoops?” Jake asked as he pulled the basketball out from under the chair he was sitting in.

“Sure,” came Jessie’s unenthusiastic response. He put glasses back on and slid off the swing, following his brother down the steps.

Josh pushed himself to his feet and shuffled inside to call Dr. Conners.

*********

“Everything okay out there?” Donna asked, already knowing it wasn’t. At some point during the time Josh and Jessie were talking she’d glanced out the front window and had seen them both in tears. A part of her had wanted to go out and check on them, but that would have just ended up with three people in tears.

“A little meltdown I suppose,” Josh sighed as he dropped heavily into the nearest kitchen chair. He tossed his glasses on the table and leaned over, head in his hands. 

“And just who melted down?” she asked as she got up from her own chair and walked over to where he was sitting. She crouched down, one hand on his knee the other gently rubbing his back.

“Both of us, I suppose,” Josh whispered. 

“Now what?” Donna asked as she leaned into him, forehead resting against his shoulder.

Josh reached to run his fingers through Donna’s blond hair. He sat up and let out a frustrated breath. “I’m going to call Jill, see what she suggests. I know we talked about waiting the weekend but I don’t think we should.”

“Good idea,” Donna agreed as she pushed herself up to standing. “What about you?” she asked as she ran her hand over the back of Josh’s neck. She got a shrug of his shoulders. “How about some Advil and a cup of tea?” she offered.

“Sounds perfect,” he replied, smiling weakly as he pulled his phone of the back pocket of his jeans. He scrolled through his contacts to call Jill. 

*******

“What’s up Josh Lyman?” Jill answered with an overly cheerful tone. “Everything okay?” she asked as she sat down at her desk and propped up her sneaker clad feet. She checked her watch, she had at least 20 minutes until her next patient was scheduled. 

“It’s Jessie,” Josh said quietly as he took the Advil and bottle of water Donna was holding out for him.

“What’s up with my favorite 12 year old?” Jill asked, her fondness for Jessie coming through in her voice.

“He’s struggling. Not sleeping, not eating much. Had a little meltdown a little while ago. Well, let’s be honest we both sort of melted down a little. But we’ll talk about me in a while.”

“Oh yes Joshua, we will be talking about you too,” Jill teased. “Jessie talked with Louis this week?”

“Yeah, Louis said he quieter than last week, withdrawn.”

“I can try talking to him. I’d prefer not to drag him to the office. I think masks and things will freak him out more,” Jill said.

“Definitely masks would freak him out,” Josh agreed as Donna set his tea on the table in front of him, patted his shoulder and left him to finish his conversation.

“So, what about you?’ Jill asked, her question met with an expected groan.

“I’m okay. I think I’m still getting used to working regularly, even if it isn’t full time. Little off the last couple days, stiff and sore. I’ll be fine. Just need to move more. Donna made Jessie and I go for a walk earlier.”

“Good. I should be done here about 4:00. Have Jessie call me, FaceTime me, whatever he’s comfortable with. You guys hang in there.”

“Thanks Doc, talk to you soon,” Josh replied. He ended the call and tossed the phone on the table, before reaching for his tea.

**********

Jessie gave wave and a little smile to Jill before picking the phone up from where it had been propped up on his desk and taking it downstairs so Josh and Donna could talk to her. “Dad, Mom,” he yelled as he came down the stairs, Jill flinching a little at his bellow. “Sorry Doc,” he said with a little grin.

“Office,” Josh called.

“Here, Dr. Conners wants to talk to you,” Jessie announced as he handed Josh his cell phone. Donna appeared a second later, having heard Jessie from her closet.

Jessi gave one last wave to Jill and left the room, closing the door behind him.

“Hey, Jill,” Donna said as she propped the phone against Josh’s open laptop and moved to stand behind Josh so Jill could see both of them.

“Hey guys. So I talked to Jessie, he was pretty open with me, like he always has been. Under normal circumstances,” she started using air quotes for _normal_ , “I wouldn’t be too worried about him. But given this situation which has no end in sight you are right to be concerned. Right now I’m most concerned about basic depression. How much anxiety do you notice?” she asked.

Josh motioned for Donna to answer. “I think he’s anxious, biting his nails and such, but he’s not having anxiety attacks, if that makes sense.”

“Of course, that makes sense, have you met the man next to you?” Jill teased as Josh rolled his eyes at her, while Donna chuckled. She tempered her laugh by pressing a quick kiss to Josh’s temple. “Is he doing okay with his school work. No problems concentrating?”

“Not at all, if anything he’s just losing himself in reading. Which, of course, isn’t the worst thing. What are you suggesting?” Josh asked.

“I’m not a fan of PRN medication for kids so I suggest starting him on a low dose of Prozac. Seems to work for his Dad. That being said, it also takes time to build up enough in his system to give a good effect. So, if he has an actual anxiety attack or as Josh would say, a nutty, you can try some Benedryl. He doesn’t have an opposite reaction to Benedryl does he?”

“No, that’s Jake,” Donna laughed. While Benedryl tended to make Jessie sleepy, it had the complete opposite effect on his brother, something they found out at a young age during an eventful plane ride to Wisconsin.

“Jessie knows we were going to talk about meds. He has good insight for a 12 year old. He knows he’s struggling and wants to feel better. I’ll escript it to your pharmacy, should be ready in a few hours. Call or text if you need anything. Jessie can do the same.”

“Thanks, Jill,” both Josh and Donna answered together.

They ended the call and just sat on the couch or a few minutes until Jessie knocked softly on the door. 

“Come on in, buddy,” Josh answered. Jessie plopped himself on the couch between his parents. “So Jill wants you to try Prozac, the same thing I take.”

“Okay,” Jessie whispered as he fidgeted with the string on his sweatshirt. “I just want to feel better.”

“We know you do, sweetie,” Donna whispered as she put her arm around Jessie’s thin shoulders.

“How about we go find something for dinner?” Josh suggested, figuring maybe Jessie would be more interested in eating if he helped prepare the meal.

“Okay,” Jessie agreed. He gave Donna a quick hug and slid off the couch. Donna grabbed Josh’s cane and handed it to him. She gave his hand a quickly squeeze as he shuffled past her out of the room.

Donna took a few minutes to have a mini meltdown before heading to the kitchen to check on the dinner situation.


	13. Chapter 13

3/25/20

After an early dinner of chili, which was made from Jed Bartlet’s famous recipe, Josh and the boys settled in the family room to relax. Jake was playing on his phone, Jessie had the 3rd Harry Potter book in his hand and Josh was stretched out on the recliner. He grabbed the remote and turned on the local news.

“In a move by the Governor to slow the spread of Coronavirus, Maryland public schools will be closed until April 27th,” the newscaster started. 

The boys, and Josh, looked up and took a second for that information sink in.

“This sucks,” Jake muttered. His phone rang and he answered it as he ran up the stairs.

Josh watched Jake head upstairs before turning his attention to his younger son. Jessie said nothing about what he’d just heard. He curled up further into the corner of the couch and pulled the navy throw over himself. 

Josh heard his own cell ring from somewhere in the kitchen. He thought about ignoring it, but it was the ringtone assigned to Donna, YoYo Ma playing the cello. Moving as fast as he could, he went into the kitchen, finding his phone under the newspaper.

“Hey,” he answered as he moved slowly back towards the family room.

“Boys hear the news?” Donna asked as she put the phone on speaker and pulled her hair back into a messy bun. She was still at work and had no idea when she’d be getting out. Things had been incredibly busy with the Senate working on passing a Coronavirus aid package.

“Just now. Jake’s on the phone in his room and Jessie is curled up on the couch,” Josh answered as he leaned against the wall separating the living room from the family room. Jessie didn’t look up at the mention of his name, much to Josh’s surprise. “Any idea when you’re coming home?”

“Not really,” Donna sighed as she tapped her computer to wake it up. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to be home with her family. “Go check on Jessie,” she said. “I’ll let you know when I’m on my way home. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Josh whispered as he ended the call.

Josh pushed himself away from the wall and moved across the room to sit next to Jessie on the couch. The boy was still huddled in the corner, tears flowing down his cheeks. Josh reached over Jessie to grab the box of tissues off the end table. Jessie took the box and pulled a few out. He clumsily wiped at his face. 

“Want to talk about it?” Josh asked as he picked up the end of the throw, spreading it over his legs. 

Jessie just shook his head as he propelled himself to his feet. He grabbed his jacket and ran through the laundry room and out the back door. Josh didn’t make a move to follow him when he realized he wasn’t exactly running away.. He looked out the family room window and saw Jessie stop at the old swing set in the back yard. The boys were really too old for it but it was a piece of their childhood and every time Josh and Donna talked about taking it down, they were met with protests from the boys. Jessie sat down on one of the swings. He pushed off with his foot, swinging gently, dragging the toe of his sneaker through the dirt. Jessie looked up to see Josh peering out the window. He gave a little wave and Josh let him be.

Josh paced around a little, in truth he was trying to calm himself down a little so he could better help Jessie out. Donna called to say she was on her way home.

As the sun dipped lower in the sky, Jessie realized he was getting cold so he slid off the swing and crossed the backyard to go back in the house. He kicked off his shoes in the laundry room and wandered into the kitchen where Josh was making himself a cup of tea. Jessie didn’t say anything, just paced around the room to the point that Josh was getting dizzy watching him. As Jessie passed by the stool he was sitting on for the 7th or 8th time Josh reached to gently grab Jessie’s hand. He tightened his grip a little as Jessie tried to pull away. With a little sigh, Jessie reluctantly let his Dad pull him into a hug. Everything Jessie had been trying to hold in for the better part of an hour came out in a rush of emotion, tears and shaking. Josh steered him towards the couch in the family room. 

Ten minutes later Jake wandered down. He stopped short in the archway between the living room and the family room. Jessie had stopped crying for the most part and was just sniffling a little, huddled in the corner of the couch. Josh was sitting in front of him on the coffee table. 

“Do you want a drink, Jessie?” Jake asked, voicing the first thing that came to his mind which might be helpful to the situation.

“Yeah,” Jessie whispered. 

Jake appeared a minute later with a bottle of Gatorade. Instead of tossing the bottle to his brother and making a beeline out of the room, Jake stepped over Josh’s feet and sat down next to Jessie. He held the bottle out but it was soon clear that Jessie was shaking too much to open it. Jake unscrewed the plastic top and handed the Gatorade to his brother with a little smile. Jessie drank a little and tried to calm down but it was clear he was having more than a bit of trouble.

Josh leaned forward and tapped Jessie’s foot to get his attention. “You know Jill suggested some Benedryl if you were having trouble calming down. Do you think you want to try it?” Jessie just nodded. Jake hopped up and ran upstairs to get the Benedryl out of their bathroom, much to the surprise of both Josh and Jessie. 

“When did the aliens come down and replace Jake?” Jessie teased with a watery smile. “He’s being so nice.”

“I don’t know. Let’s just go with it, okay?” Josh teased right back. 

“I thought the Prozac was supposed to help,” Jessie whispered as he hugged his knees to his chest.

“It will, but it takes a few weeks to kick in, you’ve only taken it for a few days. Think you can hang in there?” Josh asked.

“Like I have a choice,” Jessie muttered as Jake came back into the family room, sliding across the hardwood floor in his socks. He handed Josh the bottle and sat down on the end of the couch opposite his brother.

Jessie took the pills and tried his best to take a few deep breaths. Josh was starting to feel more than a bit helpless, something Jake picked up on rather quickly.

“Hey Jess, you want to do the counting thing Louis taught you?” Jake asked.

Josh just looked at his older son with both pride and the feeling like aliens had indeed come for him. He moved to sit on the edge of the recliner just watching Jake take over.

“Sit up and name 5 things you can see,” Jake said quietly.

“The Harry Potter book on the coffee table, Dad’s mug, my music on the piano, my glasses and your sneakers on the floor,” Jessie whispered.

“Four things you can touch,” Jake coached.

“The blanket, my phone, the pillow and my hoodie.”

“Three things you can hear,” Jake said, looking over at Josh who was just sitting quietly, watching the scene in front of him.

“The wind outside, the dryer and Dad humming,” Jessie replied. Josh quickly stopped humming and gave a little smirk.

“Two things you can smell.”

“The candle and chili from dinner.”

“What’s last?” Jake asked.

“One thing to taste, Gatorade.”

“Nice,” Jake said with a smile. 

“Thanks,” Jessie whispered as he took a deep breath. “I’m better,” he announced as he pushed the blanket back and stretched out his legs in front of him.

“You want to watch a movie?” Jake asked. Jessie just nodded and Josh tossed the remote to Jake.

Josh left the boys alone with a movie. He was washing the few dishes in the sink when he heard Donna come in the front door.

They talked for a little while before Donna went to check on the boys. A little smile came over her face when she surveyed the scene in front of her. Jake and Jessie were at opposite ends of the couch, stretched out with the legs tangled up under the blanket they were sharing. They were watching National Treasure, a movie the two of them could probably quote word for word. She dropped a kiss to the top of their blond heads and left them to their movie.

Donna found Josh reading in the overstuffed chair in their room. She quickly changed into her pajamas and sat on the edge of the bed. “As much as this whole thing sucks, it seems to have brought the boys closer together.”

“Yeah,” Josh said. “Jessie even mentioned how nice Jake has been to him lately. You should have seen him basically take charge of the situation with Jessie. You would have been proud.”

“He’s really matured lately, nice to see,” Donna said.

“About time?” Josh said with a wry grin. Donna just nodded with a grin of her own.

*******

3/30/20

Monday morning Jake and Jessie had their first real day of virtual school. Although they had been working on their studies at home for two weeks, this was the first day of formal remote learning. Jessie had decided to set up his work space in the kitchen, Jake remained in his room. They had talked about setting things up together but figure they’d be a distraction to each other and attending and participating in two different Zoom classes side by side was not going to work.

Josh had gone to the White House for what would probably be the last time in a while as Maryland, Virginia and DC were about to issue _stay at home_ orders. He would be working remotely as well. For the time being the Senate was in session and Donna would still be working as usual for the most part.

The boys were done with the virtual classroom part of their day by lunch. They still had work to do but didn’t have to sit in front of their laptops. James stopped by to check on them and they ended up sharing grilled cheese sandwiches with him for lunch. Both Josh and Donna checked on the boys a few times via text, to the point where they were starting to get a little annoyed.

*************

“Hey Jake, where’s the bicycle pump? Jessie asked as he leaned in Jake’s doorway. “My front tire needs air.”

“I think it’s on the shelf in the garage,” Jake answered. “I’ll help you find it.”

They quickly found the pump and put air in Jessie’s tire but by the time they’d done that, the rain had started. Jessie put the pump back with a sigh. Jake started rummaging through some of the long forgotten boxes in the garage.

“What are you looking for?” Jessie asked.

“No idea. There’s got to be some cool stuff in here,” Jake muttered. They poked around for a while, not finding too much exciting. 

“Hey there’s some weights over here,” Jessie announced as he opened up a box in the corner.

“Cool, maybe we should start working out. Hey, is that a bench over there?” Jake asked excitedly as he pointed to something lean against the wall over by the spare freezer.

“Yep,” Jessie replied, sharing his brother’s growing excitement.

***********

“Mom can we clean out the garage?” Jake asked over dinner that night.

“What?” Donna asked, reaching for her napkin as she choked a bit on her drink.

“The garage. We found weights and a bench, can we clean it up and make room to set everything up?” Jessie asked excitedly.

“You two want to lift weights?” Josh asked, looking at his adorable yet still slightly scrawny sons.

“I’m going to high school in the fall, I want to look good,” Jake said as he shrugged his shoulders and reached for the rice.

“You want to look good for all the boys in your school?” Jessie teased. Jake groaned but stopped short of tossing something across the table at his brother.

“Stop. Yes, you two can certainly clean out the garage,” Donna said. “And your Dad will help you out,” she added with a smirk.

Josh started to give a feeble protest, but he realized that wasn’t going to get him very far. And so after dinner, he and the boys went out in the garage to at least start to formulate some sort of game plan. They quickly decided there were lots of things which could get donated, thrown out, put on shelves or moved to the attic. The excitement the boys were showing made the whole pandemic situation just a tiny bit more bearable.

************

“Well, we somehow made it through dinner without a discussion about the _stay at home orders,”_ Josh muttered as he opened the shower door and reached to grab a towel. Working in the garage had proven to be a much dirtier task than he would have thought. Donna was sitting on the counter and had been chatting with him while he was in the shower. 

“Yeah, not sure how that happened. Guess they were too busy with their plans to turn the garage into some kind of home gym,” Donna replied as she held out her hand to him. He moved to stand between her knees.

“Well, it should them busy for a while,” Josh muttered as he leaned past Donna to look in the mirror and run his hand over his chin. “Should I grow a quarantine beard?” he muttered.

“Uh, I guess if you really want to, but I get final say whether it stays or not,” Donna declared as she pulled him close. “And speaking of keeping busy, you have any plans for the next hour or so?” she asked with a little glint in her eye. 

“Nope,” Josh replied quickly as he tugged the towel loose, letting it pool at his feet. With a smirk over his shoulder he swaggered into the bedroom. Donna just slid off the counter to follow him, giggling as she did.

*************

Just over an hour later Donna was asleep. Josh threw on his pajamas and wandered in the kitchen for a drink and to set up the coffee maker for the morning. As he passed by the stairs he heard the boys laughing loudly. Curious about what was so funny he grabbed his cane and climbed the stairs. He found the boys sitting crossed legged, side by side on the bed in Jessie’s room, laptop propped on a pillow in front of them. He could hear lots of voices coming through the speakers.

“What in the world are you two doing?” Josh asked from the doorway.

“Zoom call,” Jake muttered without looking up. “Come say hi,” he added as he waved Josh into the room.

Josh pulled Jessie’s desk chair next to the bed and sat down. He pushed his glasses up a little and took a look at the laptop which Jessie had turned a towards him a little. He was met with a loud chorus of teens and preteens waving and yelling, “Hi Uncle Josh!”

Took him a minute to identify everyone on the screen. Top left hand corner were Sophie and Eddie, Zoey and Charlie’s twins, top right, Huck and Molly, on the bottom was Thomas, Leo’s grandson. Rounding out the group was CJ’s daughter Sydney and for a brief second her step brother, DJ, who was Danny Concannon’s son. They were basically all chatting at once. Josh had no idea how anyone was following the conversation, but they were all clearly having a great time catching up. He gave one last wave to everyone and turned the computer towards the boys.

“Lights out by 11,” he said as he left the room.

“Okay Dad,” they answered, their attention clearly back on the screen in front of them.

Josh wandered back downstairs to his office. He was more wide awake than he thought he would be after helping the boys in the garage and his activities with Donna. He grabbed his cell off the desk and called Sam to chat. Unlike the kids, he just used the phone, he didn’t feel the need to talk to Sam face to face. 


	14. Chapter 14

4/3/20

It was Friday night and for the first time since Monday the family was going to have dinner together, to be more precise, the family and James were going to eat together. It had been a busy, stressful week. Everyone was feeling it, Jessie and Josh most of all. Jessie had been quiet and a bit withdrawn, Josh more hyper than usual. As a result, Donna thought a nice family dinner might be good for all involved. She’d given the boys free reign to pick the menu, as a result it was Taco Friday.

“Mom, where’s the sewing machine?” Jessie as he wandered into his parents’ bedroom.

“Sewing machine? Uh, yeah, I think it’s in the closet in the guest room. Why?” she asked, no having any idea why her 12 year old was asking about a sewing machine.

“Apparently we have to wear masks to the store. And if I have to do that, I don’t want an ugly blue one like you get at the hospital,” he explained.

“Okay, makes sense. We can drag it out over the weekend, deal?” Donna offered.

“Deal,” Jessie said as he took off in the direction of the kitchen.

Donna watched him go, a bit surprised at the conversation. It had been rather matter-of-fact which was vastly different from their usual COVID related conversations.

James came in the front door a few minutes later, carrying a bottle of Tequila and 2 cartons of ice cream.

“Now the party can start,” Josh said in that overly excited Dad-voice which had they all been in public, would have embarrassed the boys. Instead Jake and Jessie just rolled their eyes and grabbed the items from James.

Josh and James mixed up a pitcher of margaritas for the adults while the boys set out the chips, salsa and guacamole. Donna joined them a few minutes later and the party did indeed start.

Dinner was the lively, relaxed affair Donna had hoped it would be. Everyone stuffed themselves with tacos, rice and beans and a huge basket of chips. Margaritas flowed freely for James and Josh; Donna ended up only having one. She knew Josh would most likely regret the combination of too much alcohol and food in the morning, but he was relaxing for the first time in what seemed like weeks, so she didn’t bother to tease him about his sensitive system.

The evening was warm for early April and after dinner they headed out to the front porch to relax. The boys shot baskets in the driveway while the adults chatted. About 8:00 they headed inside to have dessert. Josh felt the need to finish the last of the margaritas, earning some teasing from the boys about his sensitive system.

The 5 of them played Apples to Apples for a little while. Jessie eventually wandered into the living room with whatever Harry Potter book he was currently rereading. A few minutes later Jake’s phone rang and he ran upstairs to talk in private.

“Girlfriend?” James asked as Jake disappeared up the stairs.

“I don’t think so,” Donna answered as he stacked the cards back into plastic holder and put the lid back on the game box. She went to the fridge and pulled out some of the leftovers to send home with James. Josh put the last few dishes in the dishwasher and started the cycle. He said goodnight to James and headed to his room.

“Thanks again for dinner,” James said as he pulled his jacket on. He was standing in the foyer with Donna, who was holding the Tupperware with his leftovers. 

“You are welcome, thanks for the tequila. I’m sure Josh will pay the price for it in the morning,” she teased. She stopped short of kissing James on the cheek as she normally would have done.

“I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow,” James said as he grabbed the food and headed out onto the porch.

Donna locked up and grabbed a can of ginger ale out of the fridge.

She found Josh curled up in the overstuffed chair in the corner of their room. He’d managed to take off his pants and pull on a pair of pajama bottoms but was still wearing the GWU t-shirt he’d had on all day. With a snort Donna popped the can of ginger ale open and handed it to him.

“Read my mind,” Josh muttered as he took the can from her.

“It wasn’t that hard,” Donna teased as she leaned over to press a kiss to the top of his head. “This was nice. I think it was what we all needed.”

“Exactly. Jessie was more chatty than he’s been all week. He ask you about the sewing machine?”

“Yeah. I’ll drag it out tomorrow. Have to google some patterns I suppose.”

“I have an unused mask in my backpack from the last time I was at the White House. Maybe you could take it apart and reverse engineer one,” Josh suggested.

“Sounds like a plan,” Donna answered as she went into the bathroom to grab her own pajamas.

“Boys go to bed?”

“I think Jake’s still on the phone, I can hear him pacing around. Jessie’s still reading. You going to bed?” she asked as she slipped her pajamas on.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea. Should probably sober up and digest a little more,” Josh muttered as he leaned over to grab his book off the nightstand. 

“Good idea,” Donna agreed as she grabbed her own book and settled down on her side of the bed.

By 11:00 the boys and Donna were sound asleep. Josh read for a little while and had somehow gotten a second wind. He was pacing around the downstairs, trying to do so quietly. He eventually threw on a sweatshirt and went out to the front porch with his phone to call Sam.

It was well after midnight when Josh went back inside. The light to the family room was still on and he headed to turn it off, surprised to see Jessie still awake and reading.

“Buddy, it’s after midnight,” Josh said from the doorway. 

“Almost done the third book, again,” he said with a smile. “One more chapter, can I finish?” he asked.

“As if I’m really going to tell you that you can’t read,” Josh teased.

“Why are you still up, sensitive system?” Jessie teased. He managed to duck as a throw pillow from the recliner came at his head a few seconds later.

“And yes, that’s why I’m still up,” Josh admitted. “Good night, Jessie,” he smirked from the archway.

“Night, Dad,” Jessie answered, his attention clearly turned back to his book.

***********

4/4/20

“Mom, do we have any cool fabric?” Jessie asked after dragging the sewing machine out of the closet and setting it up on the kitchen table.

“Cool fabric?” Donna asked from where she was finishing up the breakfast dishes the following morning. She wasn’t too sure what constituted “cool” in terms of fabric.

“Yeah, not flowers or anything that looks like a shirt Nanny would wear,” Jessie teased.

“Okay, I’m not telling your grandmother you said that,” Donna smirked. “I think there is a box of fabric in the attic, give me a few minutes and I’ll go up and look with you.”

“Cool, I’ll go pull down the stairs,” Jessie offered as he ran up the stairs.

“Where is he going in such a hurry?” Josh asked as he just managed to get out of Jessie’s way as he left the kitchen in a blur of blond curls. Josh poured himself another cup of coffee and sat down at the counter.

“We’re on a hunt for “cool” fabric in the attic,” Donna explained as she rinsed the last plate and set it in the drainer.

**********

Three hours later, having found some acceptable fabric left over from a quilt Donna and her mother had made for Jessie when he was very small, there were 5 newly made masks lined up on the kitchen counter, for the 4 Lymans and James. Even Jake was pretty impressed and much more surprising, he actually sewed his up himself, with a few pointers from Jessie and Donna.

After everything was put away, Jessie was sweeping the stray bits of thread and fabric up when Jake wandered back in the kitchen with his laptop and an annoyed look on his face.

“What’s up, Jacob?” Donna asked.

“They had to cancel the event where we spend the day at St. Alban. It has to be virtual now. This sucks,” he muttered, bracing himself for a comment from his mother about his choice of words.

“Yep, it sucks,” Donna agreed as she patted Jake’s shoulder. Both Jessie and Jake turned to look at Donna. The waited a beat and started laughing out loud. “And many more things about this will suck before it’s over,” she added.

“Easter’s going to suck,” Jessie chimed in. “Were talked about going to New Hampshire to see Uncle Jed and Aunt Abbey. Aunt CJ and Uncle Danny were even coming from California.

“Maybe over the summer we can have a reunion in New Hampshire,” Josh said as he came into the kitchen.

“You know what would be great, just the kids there,” Jake said, only half joking. 

“Uncle Jed, Aunt Abbey and about a dozen kids?” Josh muttered. “Don’t count on that happening.”

“I think your father and I would like to see our friends too,” Donna pointed out with a smirk.

“Fine, you can come too,” Jessie grudgingly agreed. “Can I run the mask over to James?”

“Sure,” Donna replied as she grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. 

*********

The rest of the weekend was relatively calm and relaxed. Jessie had a brief little meltdown, the cause of which was unclear to even him. He was able to calm himself down with a little help from Jake.

The boys finished getting their little home gym set up in the garage and they spent Sunday afternoon coming up with a workout schedule, including printing it out and hanging it on the back of the door leading from the garage into the house.

Jake and Jessie also spent some time on a Zoom call with Thomas and Eddie as well as spending time with James in his workshop.

All in all, the nice, calm weekend they all needed.


	15. Chapter 15

4/9/20

Josh was sitting in front of his computer, trying hard to keep up with the Zoom meeting he was attending. He did fine with a small meeting, less than 6 people was ideal. Unfortunately, the meeting had almost double that and he was having trouble following it as well as he would have liked. What he was aware of was the nearly 10,000 confirmed cases of the virus in the DC Metro area. As the meeting dragged on, he noticed it was almost lunchtime. The boys had finished up their required online classes and had headed outside with their skateboards for a little while.

As he stretched to relieve a little of the stiffness that had settled in during the long meeting, Josh heard one or both of the boys running through the living room and down the hall in his direction. He muted himself as he heard one of them yelling “Dad”.

Jake and Jessie skidded to a stop at the door to Josh’s office. It was closed, which meant he was working and wasn’t to be disturbed.

“Dad,” Jake repeated as stood on the other side of the closed door.

“I’m in a meeting, can it wait?” Josh yelled as he got up out of his chair. He had a feeling he need to check on them. He opened the door, both were still wearing their helmets, Jessie was leaning against the wall, holding his right arm to his chest, tears streaming down his face.

“I fell off my skateboard,” he said, sniffling a little.

“Jake, walk him to the kitchen, get an ice pack and I’ll be there in a minute,” Josh said as he turned his attention back to the meeting. He unmuted himself, gave a vague explanation and got off the call quickly. He grabbed his cane and moved towards the kitchen at a speed he hadn’t moved in very long time.

When he got to the kitchen Jessie was sitting on a chair, right forearm on the table with an ice pack on it. Jake was reaching to unclasp his brother’s helmet. Josh sat down next to him and ruffled his hair before reaching for the ice pack. Jessie’s wrist was already rapidly swelling and bruising.

“Ouch buddy, what happened?” Josh asked as he set the ice pack gently back over his wrist.

“I feel backwards and landed on it,” Jessie explained. He’d stopped crying but was shaking a little. Jake handed him a bottle of water which Jessie took with a little smile.

“Jake, grab my cell, it’s on my desk.”

Jake disappeared down the hall. Josh rubbed Jessie’s back a little trying to calm him down.

“Here,” Jake said, handing the phone to his father. Josh stood up and Jake slipped into the seat he’d just vacated.

Josh debated who to call first. He decided on Jill to get an idea of where things were headed, before he made a call to Donna. At first Jill was hesitant to make any suggestions over the phone. That changed when Josh snapped a quick picture of Jessie’s arm and sent it to her.

“Okay, just from the picture Jill thinks it’s probably broken,” Josh said quietly as he put his arm around Jessie’s shoulders. Jessie just nodded a little. “Is she going to meet me at the hospital?”

“She’ll get there as soon as she can,” Josh said, trying to reassure him a little. 

“I’ll go get James,” Jake offered. He was out the door before Josh could even reply.

“Let me call mom and I’ll have her meet us at the hospital. Sit tight,” Josh said as he headed towards his room to grab some shoes and his wallet. He talked to Donna who was going to meet them at GWU Hospital as soon as she could. By the time Josh made it back to the kitchen, James and Jake were coming in the front door.

“Well, Jessie, you’ve managed to make quarantine a little more interesting,” James said with a grin. Jessie chuckled a little as he wiped away a stray tear.

“Jake, I doubt you’re going to be able to come inside. Things are very different since the virus. James is just going to drop us off, Mom will meet us there. Why don’t you come with us so you can sit in the back seat with your brother? You can come back and hang out with James.” Josh explained carefully.

“Okay, I get it,” he said with a nod of his head. “But you’ll text us when you know what’s happening?”

“Of course. Go grab a sweatshirt for Jessie, something that zips up the front. You need anything else?” Josh asked Jessie. 

“My book is next to my bed and my phone is on my desk. Just put everything in my backpack.”

Jake grabbed the requested items and shoved them in Jessie’s green backpack. As he turned to leave the room, he saw Jessie’s stuffed dog, the one he’d had since birth peeking out from under the pillow. He tossed it in the backpack too before heading back downstairs. 

James got Jessie’s sweatshirt on, zipping it up over his right arm which was still clutched to his chest. Jake carried Jessie’s backpack and the four made their way to James’ car.

Jake sat with Jessie in the backseat of James’ SUV, keeping him as distracted as possible. In the front seat Josh was trying his best to remain calm himself. His anxiety came less from the specifics of their current situation and more from the simple fact that they were going to the hospital. To say that the hospital setting was hard for him to handle was a great understatement. But Jill understood that, and that was one of the reasons she was trying very hard to clear her schedule and meet them in the ER.

*************

Half an hour later, James and Jake were on their way back home, having basically just dropped Josh and Jessie at the door of the hospital.

Josh and Jessie made it through the COVID screening process with minimal difficulty. Once they were masked up and Josh had supplied the insurance information, they were shown to a bed in the pediatric ER rather quickly as it was not too busy. Josh helped Jessie up, got the head of the bed adjusted and slipped off his sweatshirt by the time the tech came in to take the rest of Jessie’s vital signs. He dropped off a fresh ice pack and pulled the curtain to give them some privacy.

Jessie curled up on the bed a little, kicking off his shoes. He turned on the television and flipped through the channels for a few minutes, earning a little glare from his father. He settled on the Food Network, something they could both enjoy.

Donna arrived just as the doctor was coming in for the initial exam.

“Dr. Howard,” he said, holding his hand out to Josh before turning towards his patient. “And you must be Jessie?” he said, holding his left hand up for a high 5. “Skateboarding accident, huh?” Jessie just nodded and sniffled a little. Dr. Howard poked and prodded a little, causing Jessie’s tears to start over again. Donna sat next to him on his left side. She pressed a kiss to his temple through her blue mask and rubbed his back a little.

Dr. Howard took a quick look at the tablet in his hand, checking Jessie’s vitals, allergies etc. 

“Okay, I’m pretty sure it’s fractured. We’ll get an x-ray and go from there. Jessie are you okay with going to x-ray without Mom and Dad? We’re trying to cut back on the number of masked people wandering around,” Dr. Howard explained with a grin.

“It’s okay,” Jessie answered, mustering up the courage he thought he needed.

A few minutes later Jessie was on his way to x-ray. Dr. Howard hung back to speak with Josh and Donna. “His blood pressure and pulse are pretty high. Is that usual for him?”

“He’s an anxious kid to begin with and being in the hospital with the virus has him a little on edge. He’s on Prozac. Jill Conners, our family doctor started him on it a few weeks ago. Not sure it’s kicked in all the way,” Donna explained.

“Probably not. We’ll keep an eye on things. Like I said, I am pretty sure he fractured his wrist. So, an ortho resident will probably be down soon to check on him, discuss the treatment options.”

“Options?” Josh asked, having not considered any options other than a brightly colored cast and maybe a pain pill so they could make it through the night.

“Depending on how out of alignment the bones are, they may need to reduce the fracture to get the bones back in place,” Dr. Howard explain as he watched the color drain out of Josh’s face. “Mr. Lyman, would you like to take a seat?” he asked as he pushed the stool closer to Josh with his foot.

“Josh, and yeah, probably a good idea,” he muttered as he sat down. Donna rubbed his back for few seconds.

“Mrs. Lyman, looks like you have your hands full, give a yell if you need anything,” he said with a little grin as he disappeared behind the curtain.

Donna sat on the edge of the bed and replied to a text from Jake who had barely even made it home before asking how his brother was.

Jill arrived before Jessie got back from x-ray. That gave her plenty of time to make fun of Josh for a few minutes while Donna went to find him something to drink. 

Jessie got wheeled back from x-ray as Donna returned with a bottle of Snapple for Josh. Jessie’s tears started the second he saw Jill. She gave him a careful hug and helped him back on the bed.

The tech came by to check Jessie’s vitals again. Both blood pressure and pulse were still elevated. 

“Jess, let’s try a little deep breathing,” Jill suggested as she sat down on the edge of the bed. They didn’t get very far into the deep breathing when Dr. Howard returned, with a friend.

“Dr. Marks, ortho,” the short, balding doctor said, shaking hands with Josh and Donna before fist bumping Jessie. He took a few minutes to look at the x-ray and then sat down on the edge of the bed.

“Is it broken?” Jessie asked, wiping at his eyes with his other hand. 

“Yep,” Dr. Marks said as he showed the x-ray to everyone. Donna caught the look on Jill’s face, one that said, this isn’t going to be a quick cast and a lollipop. “So here’s the deal. The bones are pretty far out of alignment and we’re going to have to put them back where they belong before you get a cool cast, in the color of your choosing,” he explained as he smiled at Jessie.

“Uh how does one put the bones….” Josh started, trailing off quickly. Jessie could tell Josh was getting worked up, which led to him starting to get upset. Jill discreetly guided Josh back to the stool.

“We’ll first try closed reduction. You’ll get some pain meds and we will try to manipulate the bones back in place,” Dr. Marks explained to Jessie, speaking to him like the mature young man Jessie was.

“While I’m awake?” Jessie asked as he shook his head. Little tears became sobs rather quickly.

Donna sat down on the bed with Jessie and rubbed his back. The 3 doctors looked at each other, trying to decide the best approach to everything. They stepped out into the hall to chat for a few minutes to come up with a plan which would cause the minimal amount of pain and distress to their young patient and his parents, his father in particular.

“Okay, here’s what’s going to happen,” Jill said when she came back after their little conference. She traded places with Donna, sitting next to Jessie, holding his hand. “It’s obvious this whole thing is freaking you out. And I get it, you’re in pain, you’re in the hospital, where you father is barely holding himself together,” she said with a snort in Josh’s direction. Josh gave an ineffective glare and Jessie snorted along with her. “And all of this is in the middle of a pandemic, which you were already worried about when you were just at home. That about sum everything up?” Jessie just nodded. “We are going to try to do the closed reduction but we’re going to do it in the OR. I’m not comfortable trying to do it with just pain meds and Dr. Marks is not comfortable doing it in the ER under sedation. That said, there will a wait for things to happen. We have to get you on the OR schedule. The nurse will come in a few minutes to start an IV, we’ll give you pain meds and some fluids. How about something to calm down a little?”

“Yeah,” Jessie whispered.

“Okay, we’ll give you something. When you get to the OR we’ll give you some different meds which will put you to sleep quickly, within a minute or so. If everything goes as planned, you’ll only be out 15 minutes or so. You’ll come back here and get your cast on. When you’re fully awake and can walk on your own, you can go home.”

“And if things don’t go as planned?” Jessie asked quietly.

“Well, that will mean that Dr. Marks wasn’t able to get the bones back in place. It will then be an open reduction where he’ll need to make an incision and probably put a pin or two in the bone to hold it together. He doesn’t really think that’s going to happen. But if it does, you may need to stay overnight,” Jill explained. “Any questions?”

“Can I have a snack? We didn’t get to eat lunch.”

“Unfortunately, no. If we have to do the open reduction it will be better if you don’t have anything on your stomach.”

“So I don’t puke?” Jessie guessed.

“You got it,” Jill replied with a grin.

**********

Half an hour later Jessie was curled up on the stretcher. Dress in a hospital gown, he had an IV in his left hand and had been given a nice dose of Versed. He turned out to have about the same tolerance for meds as Josh, which was to say, very little. His stuffed dog was clutched to his chest and he was humming to himself.

Josh stayed with him while Donna went to update Jake and James as well as sign some consents.

A few minutes before 3:00 Josh and Donna kissed Jessie goodbye. Jill was able to accompany him to the OR. For that, everyone was glad. 

*************

“Hey, Jessie, buddy, open your eyes,” Josh coaxed as he brushed back the boy’s curls. Jessie was back in the ER, struggling to wake up. The closed reduction had gone as planned. He’d already awoken once after the reduction but drifted off again on the way back from the OR. 

“Jessie, wake up or I’m putting on a hot pink cast,” Dr. Marks whispered as he set up the supplies for his cast.

“No pink,” Jessie muttered. He opened his eyes and took a few deeps breaths. “Blue.”

“Navy or royal?”

“Navy,” he answered as he sat up. Josh helped him out of the hospital gown and back into his t-shirt so Dr. Marks could get to work.

*************

It was dinnertime when the trio make their way in the front door. Jessie more or less stumbled in the door with Donna holding onto him. She steered him towards the family room couch while Jake got his pillow and blanket from his bed. 

Donna went to change her clothes and take a breath. Josh went into the kitchen to decide what to do about dinner. Turned out James and Jake had already ordered pizza.

Jessie was sound asleep by the time the pizza arrived. Donna set an ice pack over his navy cast and turned out the light. She knew he was starving but sleep seemed more important at that moment.

**************

“Dad?” Jessie called, just as Josh was finishing up his pizza.

“Coming buddy,” he called as he quickly wiped his hands and grabbed his cane. Jessie was trying to get his bearings and stand up by the time he got to the family room. “Whoa, slow down,” Josh said. Jessie sat back heavily with a sigh. “You hungry, there’s pizza?”

“Starving,” Jessie answered. “And I have to pee,” he said as he stood up again, this time he was more steady. He headed for the bathroom while Josh went back to the kitchen.

Jessie sat down at the kitchen table and opened the pizza box. He got a good whiff of it and turned a little green, closing the box again.

“Sensitive system?” Josh teased. Jessie just nodded. Josh got him a can of ginger ale. “It’s from the meds. How about some oatmeal or some soup.”

“Oatmeal,” Jessie answered as he propped his arm on the table. 

Jake came back in the kitchen and Jessie gave his brother a blow by blow description of his hospital visit. He made sure to include all of Josh’s less than stellar moments.

Jill called to check in on everyone and was happy to hear Jessie had been able to eat something. 

It was after 8:00 by the time everyone had settled down completely. Jake had helped Jessie get changed into his pajamas and they were on a Zoom call, showing off Jessie’s cast to a few friends.

Josh was stretched out on the couch in his office when his cell rang. He considered ignoring it but when he glanced at the phone he saw the general White House number.

“Josh Lyman,” he answered, trying to sound wide awake and ready to have a coherent conversation about the coronavirus.

“Hold for the President,” came the voice of a White House operator.

“Josh, everything okay? I heard you got off the call quickly this afternoon. Sorry I didn’t call sooner, things got busy.”

“Sir, I didn’t really expect you to check up on me. That being said, Jessie fell off his skateboard and broke his wrist. They were able to set it without operating on it. We’re all home now, exhausted and cranky, but home.”

“Ouch, sorry to hear that. Peter broke his arm when he was about the same age. Nothing like feeling completely out of control of a situation,” Matt replied.

“Exactly, sir,” Josh said as he heard the door to his office open. He waved Jessie in. “You okay?” he whispered to his son.

“Is that him?” President Santos asked. “Put him on for a minute.”

“Okay, thanks for calling. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” Josh held out the phone towards Jessie. “Someone wants to check up on you,” he said with a smile.

“Hello?” Jessie said after taking a seat on the arm of the couch.

“Hey, Jessie, Dad told me what happened. You okay?”

“Yes, Mr. President,” Jessie answered as Josh left the room to go find Donna. He found her sitting in the overstuffed chair in their room.

“Where’s Jessie?”

“On the phone in my office talking to Matt Santos,” Josh answered with a grin.

Donna just chuckled.

****************

All things considered, Jessie did pretty well during the night. He slept on the couch in the family room and Jake slept in the recliner to keep him company. Jessie woke up once in pain. Jake gave him the pain pill Donna had set out for him and they fell back to sleep within minutes.


	16. Chapter 16

4/12/20

Josh waved Donna back down as she tried to stand up and help clear away the dishes. He poured her another glass of wine and removed her plate from the table.

“Thanks,” she said as she sat back down with her cup of coffee, reaching to a few mini Reese’s Peanut Butter cups out of the Easter basket on the table.

They had just finished a delicious ham dinner for Easter. The boys had disappeared with some candy, leaving Josh and James to clean up, seeing as Donna had cooked the better part of the meal. The boys had helped a little but quickly disappeared when the meal had ended.

Over the previous three days Jessie had become pretty adept at using his left hand. While he was right handed he was fairly ambidextrous, much to his surprise. Other than the first night, he hadn’t had too much trouble with pain. The cast of more of an annoyance than anything. Physically he was doing well, emotionally, it was a little harder to tell. He’d been quiet since his accident, a bit more withdrawn than he had been in the previous few weeks.

The boys were on spring break starting the following morning. There had been some discussion about cancelling it but in the end the Bethesda school district had decided to stick with the planned week off. Unfortunately, Jessie’s accident had curtailed their plans to spend a lot of time in their newly finished home gym aka the far corner of the garage. 

Donna wandered in the family room where the boys were working on a puzzle, music playing through what she assumed was Jessie’s phone and not Jake’s as it was the Hamilton cast recording and not some loud, thumping beat which would barely qualify as music in her opinion. There was a pile of candy wrappers and a few mini Hershey bars on the corner of the table. Donna grabbed a dark chocolate one and helped put a few pieces of the puzzle in place.

“So, what are you two doing to keep busy this week?” Donna asked.

“Working out,” Jake said quickly. “Sorry,” he added as he gave Jessie’s cast a little thump with his knuckles.

“It’s okay,” Jessie muttered with a shrug of his shoulders. “Guess I’ll read the next Harry Potter book, again,” he replied with a sigh to Donna’s original question.

“Maybe find something else to keep you busy too,” Donna suggested, knowing if given the chance, he would just sit on the couch for a week and lose himself in the tales of Hogwarts.

“I’m going to check on the kitchen, don’t eat too much candy,” Donna said with a smile.

Much to her surprise, the kitchen was spotless when she poked her head in. Josh and James were sitting at the counter, a glass in front of each of them and a bottle of Scotch in between. Donna reached around Josh and grabbed his glass, taking a healthy mouthful. 

“Would you like a glass of your own?” Josh smirked as he took the drink back and poured himself another few finger’s worth.

“Nope, I’m good,” Donna smirked right back as she poured a bit more for James and put the bottle away, ignoring the ineffective glare from her husband.

**************

4/16/20

The boys were enjoying their break, keeping busy without getting into too much trouble. Earlier in the week Jessie had snuck out on his skateboard but was caught by Josh who had wandered out onto the front porch while talking on the phone. He grudgingly put the skateboard in the garage and practiced shooting free throws in the driveway.

Josh spent a good deal of Monday and Tuesday at the White House. The President was about to unveil his road map for economic recovery. The plan would outline a multi stage process for restoring economic activity and slowly lifting restrictions. As unpopular as some of his ideas were, President Santos was focused on reopening the nation with facts based in science and not fear. He was calling for a 14 day decline in coronavirus cases before considering lifting any current restrictions in any area of the country. He was working with the governors to come up with plans which were relevant to each state, understanding that the effects of the virus varied widely from state to state and even county to county within a particular state.

On the afternoon of the 16th the White House Coronavirus Task Force unveiled the plan during a televised press conference. Josh begged off sitting on the dais and actually being part of the press conference. Instead he sat off to the side, wearing the Mets mask Jessie had made for him a few weeks earlier. He watched with pride as the thought about how President Santos had handled things over the past few months. At times it seemed he was damned if he did, and damned if he didn’t, but Matt Santos, and Josh, knew how to bring the nation together to fight the common enemy without making the virus into something political. 

4/17/20

“This sucks,” Jessie muttered, just loud enough for Donna to hear him. She was working from home that day and was holed up in the master bedroom, laptop and papers spread out on the bed.

“What’s up, Jessie?” she called, not looking up from her work.

“They just canceled school for longer, until May 15th,” he groaned as he flopped in the overstuffed chair in the corner, throwing his legs over the arm and clutching the flowered pillow to his chest.

“How did you find out?” Donna asked as she pushed her reading glasses on the top of her head and set her laptop next to her on the bed.

“Dad and I were watching the news in his office,” Jessie explained.

“News, oh, I didn’t realize it was so late,” Donna said as she glanced at her watch. It was a few minutes after 5:00. “I don’t suppose anyone thought about dinner,” Donna mused. Jessie just gave his mom a little glare. “Okay, so someone thought about dinner. What are we having?”

“Dad is going to grill burgers as soon as he’s done with whatever he’s doing.”

“Good, why don’t you get your brother to help get some stuff out,” Donna suggested. Jessie nodded and propelled himself off the chair and headed upstairs, yelling Jake’s name as he went. Donna just shook her head and turned back to her laptop, determined to quickly wrap things up for the weekend.

************

“Do you think we’ll go back to school this year,” Jake asked over dinner. 

“Honestly, I don’t,” Josh answered as he turned to get Jessie’s reaction to his prediction. There really wasn’t much of one. And Josh wasn’t too sure how he felt about that.

“I don’t want to fall behind,” Jake muttered, a phrase his parents never thought they would hear their oldest son say.

“You’ll be fine. It’s not like you’re the only one missing school. You’ve been keeping up with everything and even moved ahead in math all on your own,” Josh pointed out.

“Well, with a little help from James,” Jessie teased. Jake nodded in agreement.

“You have your virtual day at St. Alban on the 23rd right?” Josh asked.

“Yeah. They broke the class up into small groups so we all fit on a Zoom call without getting overwhelmed. You know, the way you can’t handle more than 6 people on a call,” Jake teased his father as he reached for the baked beans. Josh just let off a little snort. “I think we’re supposed to look nice on the call, at least from the waist up.”

“That’s what I do,” Josh smirked. He was known to spend the day in sweats pants on the bottom and a shirt and tie on top.

“Your blazer should still fit, you just wore in for the Winter Dance a few months ago,” Donna said.

“And I haven’t grown too much,” Jake groaned.

“Well, have some more vegetables, that should help,” Josh teased as he pushed the salad bowl in Jake’s direction. 

The rest of dinner consisted of a lively discussion about what they were most looking forward to when the pandemic was over and they were allowed to get back to their normal lives.

**************

True to his plans for Spring Break, Jessie had spent a good deal of the week quietly reading. While Josh and Donna felt a little odd trying to tell their child he was reading too much, they would have preferred he spent a little more time with other people and maybe spend time outside now that Spring had actually seemed to arrive to the DC Metro area.

After dinner, Jessie took his book, the next to the last Harry Potter book, out to the front porch. Josh made himself a cup of coffee and went out to join him on the swing. He had a book with him but secretly hoped Jessie would start a conversation, about anything.

“Hey Dad,” Jessie muttered, not bothering to look up. He knew it was Josh, the tap of his cane gave his identity away quickly.

“Hey buddy,” Josh said simply as Jessie stopped the swing long enough for Josh to sit down. “How was your appointment with Louis yesterday?” Jessie just shrugged his shoulders and glanced up at his dad. The look on Josh’s face let him know that he was not going to get away with a shrug of his shoulders as an answer.

“It was fine. We talked about my arm and how I did at the hospital. I told him I did better than you,” Jessie teased.

“That’s cause you had the good drugs,” Josh teased right back.

“He asked how many times I took Benedryl and how many times I did my grounding exercise since last week. Once and twice, by the way.”

“So not a bad week considering you broke something in there,” Josh teased lightly.

“True,” Jessie grinned.

“But you were pretty quiet,” Josh said in the most matter of face tone he could muster up.

“You do realize I’m not normally loud, like Jake,” Jessie said with a grin.

“Also true,” Josh laughed.

At that moment Jake opened the front door and came out onto the porch, causing Josh and Jessie to laugh louder at their previous exchange.

“What’s so funny?” Jake asked.

“Nothing,” both answered together. Jake just shook his head at the pair and headed down the steps. 

“I’m going to ride my bike,” he announced to nobody in particular.

He grabbed his bike and was down the street and around the corner in about 30 seconds.

“When can I ride my bike?” Jessie asked.

“Jill said when the swelling went down enough that you could grip the handlebars. Can you do that yet?”

“Yep,” Jessie declared as he wiggled his fingers in front of Josh’s face. “Can I go catch up to Jake?”

“Sure,” Josh answered, happy to see he wanted to do something other than escape to Hogwarts.

Jessie texted Jake to find out where he went before getting his helmet and bike out of the garage. Josh stayed out on the swing alone until Donna wandered out half an hour later wondering where her boys had disappeared to.

“Did we lose our children?” she asked as she leaned out the front door.

“Riding their bikes. Jessie assured me he could move his fingers enough to hold the handlebars.”

“Nice. You want a beer?” she asked.

“You having one too?” Josh asked as he set his book aside.

“Yep. I’ll be right out.”

Josh and Donna enjoyed a rare hour or so alone on the front porch with their beers. While they enjoyed the time the four of them had been spending together during quarantine, spending time without the boys was also nice.


	17. Chapter 17

4/21/20

By Tuesday afternoon the death toll in the DC Metro area had reached 1000. Two days earlier there had been protesters gathered in Annapolis under the banner---Reopen Maryland. They were protesting the ongoing, school, business and church closings. Josh was having more and more trouble keeping Jessie away from the news channels. As a compromise, Josh asked that they watch together, so they could talk about things before Jessie had a chance to get too upset.

Donna had gone to the Capitol for a few hours that afternoon, returning just before 5:00. The boys were playing a video game in the family room and Josh was in his office. The door was open and she could see him sitting on the couch. His cell phone was on the arm of the couch and he had his elbows on his knees, hands dangling in front of him. With a clumsy move of his hand he swiped at his eyes.

“Josh,” she said carefully as she walked into the room, closing the door behind her. He glanced up and she could see he was upset. She hadn’t heard from him all afternoon and had no idea what was wrong. 

“Abbey just called,” Josh said as he patted the couch next to him. Donna’s heart sank and she sat down next to him, putting her hand on his back.

“What happened?” she asked, bracing herself for his answer.

“Jed’s sick,” he said simply. “They just got a positive COVID test back a few hours ago. He’s been sick for a few days but she didn’t want to alarm anyone. They’d gone out for a quick trip into town about 10 days ago. Wore masks and did everything they could to stay safe. Jed was going stir crazy and against her better judgment they went out.”

“He in the hospital?” Donna asked as she wiped away the tears which had quickly formed in her eyes.

“No, trying to avoid that. Unless he needs medical intervention that Abbey can’t handle at home, he will stay at the farmhouse. She’ll have a nurse helping them out and Liz is there. He’s been pretty healthy lately but he is almost 80 and he has a serious degenerative illness. Could this be the end?” he whispered.

“Oh God, how do we tell the boys?” Donna said as she got up to grab the box of tissues off the desk. She handed some to Josh and took a few for herself.

“We have to figure it out soon. Abbey’s trying to keep it out of the press but there’s only so much she can do about that, he’s still a very public figure and things get out, no matter how much she wants to keep it private. You want to do tell them now?” Josh sighed.

“Yeah, they’re in the family room playing video games.”

They stood up and just wrapped each other up in a hug for a minute, trying to find the strength to tell the boys.

“Hey guys, can you turn that off for a minute,” Josh said as he leaned his cane against the bookcase and took a seat on the edge of the recliner. Donna took a seat on the arm of the couch next to Jessie.

Jake turned off the game without a complaint, he knew something was up. “What’s wrong?” he asked as he scooted back into the corner of the couch, pulling his legs up and wrapping his arms around his shins.

“Aunt Abbey called this afternoon,” Josh started. Those few simple words caused Jessie’s tears to start quickly. Donna pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his temple. “Uncle Jed is sick. He has coronavirus. He’s still home, Aunt Abbey will try to keep him there. He’s a little weak but awake and aware.”

“Can we talk to him?” Jessie asked as he got up and stumbled over to the recliner, pressing himself next to Josh. He put his head on Josh’s shoulder and took a few halting breaths.

“I think you can probably FaceTime. I’ll check with Abbey tomorrow. I don’t know how much he’ll be able to talk, but I’m sure he’d love to see the two of you,” Josh answered. 

“Okay,” Jessie whispered.

“He’s pretty strong, maybe he’ll be okay,” Jake added, not really believing his own words. “Jessie, do you want something to drink?” he asked as he glanced over at his brother. Jessie just nodded. He was still pressed against Josh. The tears had slowed but he was still shaking, causing Jake to make his offer.

“Here,” Jake said as he came back in the room with two bottles of Gatorade.

“Thanks,” Jessie whispered, sniffling a little.

“Do you want to go upstairs and do the counting thing?” Jake offered.

“Sure,” Jessie replied quietly as he pushed himself to his feet. He headed upstairs as Donna motioned for Jake to wait a second. When Jessie turned the corner, Donna walked to her oldest child and pulled him into a big hug.

“Thank you for being such a great big brother,” she whispered in Jake’s ear.

“You’re welcome,” he whispered back.

“Give a yell if you two need anything. I’m going to figure out what to do about dinner.”

“Grilled cheese and fries?” Jake asked over his shoulder as he went up the stairs.

“Perfect,” Donna called back as she went back to the family room to check on Josh.

She found him, as expected, curled up in the recliner, tears streaming down his face. She perched on the arm and pulled him close, pressing a kiss to the top of his head.

“In the words of the boys, this sucks,” he muttered as he wiped his face with his shirt sleeve. 

“Sure as hell does. Come out to the kitchen. Jake wants grilled cheese and fries for dinner. We do have cheese, right?” she asked with a grin.

“Yeah, James and I picked some up yesterday when we went to the store,” Josh answered as he held out his hand so Donna could pull him to his feet.

They almost made it to the kitchen before they heard Jake calling for one of them. 

“I’ll go, you start dinner,” Donna said as she steered Josh in the general direction of the kitchen.

By the time Donna flew up the stairs the boys were in their bathroom, Jessie was retching, and Jake was doing his best not to freak out.

“He got so upset he puked,” Jake explained, not that an explanation was really needed.

“I can see that. Grab a clean washcloth out of the linen closet and find his Gatorade,” Donna said as she pulled her hair back and knelt down next to Jessie. 

Jake returned with the requested items and Donna sent him down to help Josh with dinner. She put a cool damp cloth on the back of Jessie’s next and rubbed his back. He managed to calm himself down rather quickly. He rinsed his mouth and scooted back, leaning against the tub. Donna put her arm around him and pressed a kiss to his temple.

“Better?” she asked.

“Yeah. I think I freaked Jake out,” he said with a tiny little laugh.

“He’ll get over it. Did you finish the grounding exercise?”

“Yeah. I was okay until Eddie called all upset about his Grandpa. We can’t even go see him, it’s not fair,” he muttered as he picked at a loose thread on the bathmat he and Donna were sitting on. 

“I know, it sucks,” Donna agreed. “You want to come downstairs?” she asked as she nudged him with her shoulder.

“Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute,” Jessie said as he pushed himself to his feet. He hung the washcloth on the towel rack and reached for him toothbrush.

*************

Donna was the only one who managed to get much sleep that night and even so, she was awake at 5:30, alone in her bed. Josh’s side of the bed clearly had not been slept in at all. She climbed out of bed, knowing more sleep was not very likely. As she headed for the kitchen and some much needed coffee she poked her head in Josh’s office, it was empty. She found her wayward husband, and the boys, in the family room. Jake was curled up in the recliner. Josh was at one end of the couch, feet on the coffee table, Jessie was curled up at the opposite end of the couch, feet resting against Josh’s leg. All three were sound asleep. The TV was on, the Netflix homepage silently scrolling through the new additions and highlights. She found the remote under Josh’s arm and turned it off before heading for the kitchen.

As she was working from home that day, Donna made no effort to take a shower or otherwise get ready for the day. Instead she was baking and cooking, her default activities when she was needing to keep busy. There were meatballs and sauce on the stove and blueberry muffins in the oven. The coffee pot was nearly empty so she poured the rest in a fresh mug and started another pot, figuring Josh would be up soon.

Jake wandered in the kitchen a little after 7:00, following the odd combination of smells. “So the stress cooking has started?” he teased as he looked at the coffee pot which had just started brewing. “Did you drink the whole pot?” he asked.

“No, there’s a cup left,” she smirked as she motioned to the mug on the counter, sitting in front of the stool where Josh usually ate breakfast. 

“Cool, I’ll take that,” Jakes announced as he opened the fridge to get out the milk. 

“Grab the eggs, I’ll make you breakfast,” Donna said as she stirred the sauce.

“Okay this stress cooking has its merits,” Jake teased.

“You’re just a mouthful of wise ass this morning, aren’t you,” Donna teased. Jake had just taken a mouthful of coffee and ended up snorting a bit all over his shirt. Donna tossed a towel in his direction. He wiped his face and gave Donna a big hug.

“Have you heard from Aunt Abbey?”

“No, but grab my phone for me. It’s on my nightstand.” Jake grabbed the phone while Donna look in the pantry to see if she had all the necessary ingredients for Jed Bartlet’s secret chili recipe. A few years early he had bestowed the Bartlet family secret to the boys during a trip to New Hampshire.

“No messages,” Jake said as he dropped Donna’s phone on the kitchen table. “Now what are you looking for?” he asked, when he realized Donna was in the pantry.

“These,” Donna answered as she dropped an assortment of canned beans and tomato products on the counter.

“Chili, cool. How about you sit for a minute and I’ll make the eggs,” Jake offered. “You’re having a nutty,” he added, not quite as quietly as he thought.

“I get stressed, your father has a nutty,” Donna corrected as she sat down at the counter and reached for her mug.

Jake made scrambled eggs and cheese for himself and Donna. He was flicking through Facebook when he saw the first post. “Looks like Aunt Abbey couldn’t keep things out of the press,” he said quietly as he showed her a simple post from the TODAY SHOW speaking of the COVID positive status of Former President Josiah Bartlet.

As soon as Donna had read the post her phone rang, it was Abbey. She took the call in Josh’s office. Jake tried to follow her but she waved him off. He sat back down to finish his breakfast.

Josh and Jessie wandered in while Donna was still on the phone. Jake made Josh some eggs while Jessie just made himself some toast and put the water on for tea.

“How is he?” all three asked when Donna appeared 10 minutes later. The fact that she wasn’t in tears was a good sign.

“He’s actually doing okay. Press did get a hold of the story, Abbey will have someone give a brief statement later today. For now she feels she can care for him at home. He’s a little weak but completely coherent, on oxygen when he sleeps. Getting him to eat something is challenging. And yes, he would love to hear from you two,” she said as she pointed to the boys. “Abbey said she’ll try to call you sometime this afternoon when Uncle Jed is feeling up to talking.”

“Guess that’s some positive news,” Josh said as he really took a look around at the kitchen, which was quite a disaster for not even 8 in the morning. “What happened here?” he asked curiously.

“It’s either stress cooking or mom’s having a nutty, take your pick,” Jake answered as he took a step out of reach of his mother.

“A mouthful of wise ass today,” Josh muttered, echoing Donna’s earlier statement.

****************

By 1:00 the boys were done their schoolwork and were moving on to the chili making portion of the day. Jessie started to brown the meat while Jake opened cans. A few minutes into their culinary adventure Donna walked into the room holding her cell phone. “Someone wants to talk to you,” she said with a smile as the boys turned to find their beloved Uncle Jed on her phone screen. 

Donna’s phone got propped up on the counter so Jed and the boys could “visit” for a while. Much to Abbey’s surprise, Jed managed to stay on the phone for almost an hour. Mostly because the boys did a good deal of the talking and just enjoyed watching them interacting with each other and of course, making his famous chili. When Jed started to get tired they talked with Abbey for a little while.

Later that afternoon Liz Westin make a brief statement to the press, giving an update on her father’s condition and asking for privacy during the difficult time. Josh just hoped the public would heed her plea.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> text messages are in italics.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments.

4/23/20

“Dad, I can’t get my tie straight," Jake announced as he walked into Josh’s office at 9:45 that morning. He was wearing what had basically become Josh’s quarantine outfit, dress shirt, tie, cargo shorts and slippers. He had his Zoom orientation for St Alban at 10:00 and since the last time he’d worn a tie was the winter formal, he was a little out of practice.

Josh stood up and wound the striped silk into a neat knot and smoothed down a couple of errant curls. “Did you decide where you are setting up? Have to make a good impression with your background,” he teased.

“Definitely not my room. I’m going to sit in front of the bookcase in the family room.”

“Sounds perfect. Good luck,” Josh said as he patted the boy’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Dad,” Jake called over his shoulder.

Josh went back to working on the political ramifications of the relief bill Congress was furiously working on that week.

Jake used his cell phone to check his reflection on last time before longing onto the Zoom call. Jessie worked on his schoolwork in the kitchen, Josh stayed in his office and Donna had gone into work that day.

*************

Jake was beyond excited after the call, running to find Jessie to tell him all about it. He had to wait 20 minutes for Jessie to finish his online math class. He spent the 20 minutes pacing up and down the hallway.

That afternoon the two of them spent hours going through the members of the St. Alban Class of 2024 newly formed Facebook page. Jake was glad to see there were two boys who lived within bike riding distance of their house. 

The four of them had movie night that night. It was Jessie’s turn to pick, so the movie of the night was Pitch Perfect. Jake groaned at the selection but half an hour into it, he was singing along. 

4/24/20

Josh slept in on Saturday, catching up on some much needed sleep. The previous week had been long and stressful with Congress eventually passing the relief bill aimed at helping employers and hospitals, two hard hit sectors of the country. Jakes also slept in late, that had more to do with being a 14 year old boy who stayed up too late playing video games online with his friends after movie night.

Donna and Jessie had breakfast with James who’d appeared at the front door a little before 9:00 with a fresh baked coffee cake and a friendly smile. Donna ushered him in, not caring that her hair was a mess and she was wearing her ratty robe.

“Hey James,” Jessie called from the kitchen where he was getting coffee mugs down from the cabinet. He grabbed a third one and set it next to his favorite mug, a 20 year old Bartlet for America mug.

“Hey Jess, you’re up early,” James said when he took a good look at the boy. Jessie had already showered and was dressed in a jeans and a long sleeved, Notre Dame t-shirt.

“Well, I wasn’t up until midnight playing video games,” Jessie smirked as the coffee maker beeped. He poured 3 mugs. Much to his parents’ dismay, but not surprise, he’d developed a real taste for coffee since quarantine had started. Although he had found out quickly not to drink it too late after a large mug late one night left him wired at 3:00 AM.

Donna and Jessie settle down at the table with James, enjoying the coffee cake and their fresh coffee. Eventually Josh and Jake wandered in, enticed by the smell of coffee and the sound of laughter.

***********

“Mom, this is getting really boring,” Jessie announced later that afternoon. Donna was sitting on the front steps., digging the dead plants out of the planters which lined the left hand side of the steps. 

“What?” Donna asked, not sure what he was really talking about.

“Quarantine,” he said as he plopped down next to her.

“Yeah, it is. But you can help me out here,” she said as she pushed a flowerpot in his direction.

“When can we do stuff with our friends?” he asked as he reached for the little spade so he could get the dead plant out.

“Depends what you want to do. Dad and I talked last night, if you want to go out and ride bikes, that’s fine. But 6 feet apart, no football or anything like that, masks on if you go to the store. Skateboarding, after you get that off,” she said, pointing towards his blue cast.

“When does it come off?” Jessie asked.

“You have to have it x-rayed next week to check on it. If everything is okay, probably the second week in May.” Jessie groaned. “You do realize it’s only been two weeks,” Donna pointed out.

“But it’s annoying and itchy,” Jessie whined.

“Yeah, I’m sure it is.”

Jessie dropped the whining, he knew it wasn’t going to get him anywhere with his mother.

They finished with the pots and both boys went with Donna after lunch to buy some flowers. By dinner time the porch was looking like springtime. 

That night the governor of Maryland unveiled a three stage plan for gradually easing Coronavirus restrictions. He hoped to start opening things up the first week in May.

And for the first time in weeks, Jessie seemed just a little bit hopeful.

************

4/27/20

“So we’re getting some of the band back together,” Josh said cryptically over dinner.

“Band?” Jessie asked. “You play piano and frankly, not all that well,” he teased.

“The metaphorical band Jessie. And not musicians, former Bartlet administration members,” Josh explained.

“You lost me,” Jessie muttered as he rolled his eyes.

“Me too,” agreed Jake as he reached for another pork chop.

“Continue,” Donna gestured towards Josh with her fork.

“DC Mayor is forming a “Reopen DC Committee” to come up with a plan for restarting the economy in the District. Nancy McNally signed on to lead the committee and she tapped Kate Harper to help her out.”

“Great, haven’t seen either of them in a long time,” Donna said with a grin.

“That’s the good news,” Josh said, reaching for a roll.

“What’s the bad news?” Jake asked.

“Jess?” Josh said, knowing his younger son knew the stats he was about to mention.

“1500 deaths in the DC Metro area,” Jessie said quietly. “But I guess the news about the committee is good.”

**************

5/6/20

For a week and a half Jessie had been upbeat, hopeful even. He was more like himself. The sound of him playing piano was heard more often and without Josh nagging him about practicing. He spent more time out in the fresh air. He’d helped Jake drag the deck furniture out of the shed and together they set everything up. The rode their bikes and spent time with James. And as they’d done for almost two months, they kept up with their studies.

Jessie’s good mood came to a not too unexpected end that evening when the Governor of Maryland announced that schools would be closed for the remainder of the school year. 

The news had come right before dinner. Josh and Donna tried to get both the boys to talk about it, but they were both clearly upset by the news.

After the boys had cleaned up from dinner they started to get ready to go bike riding when the skies opened up just as they were opening the garage door.

Both let loose some words their parents would not have approved of, under normal circumstances. But had Josh and Donna heard them, they probably would have just ignored it.

“No offense but I can’t take this house anymore,” Jake muttered as he stomped down the hall from the garage to the kitchen. Jessie flew up the stairs and slammed his bedroom door.

Josh just watched from the archway separating the living room from the family room. At that moment he realized just how helpless the entire family was feeling. Donna took a step towards him but he waved her off. He didn’t have time to have a “nutty”. His cellphone vibrated in his pocket with an incoming text. He pulled it out—a text from James.

_JW-Just heard the news about school. How are the boys?_

_JL-I think the whole family is a breath away from a nutty. Feeling rather helpless to be honest. Trying to hold myself together for the boys who are currently stomping around the house. Can’t blame them, though._

_JW-You want to send them over here for a little while? I’m not doing anything exciting but maybe a change of scenery would be good for them and you can have your “nutty” if that’s what you need._

_JL-sounds good, if it’s not too much trouble_

_JW-it’s no trouble, I have no plans._

_JL-thanks. Send them home when they get annoying._

_JW-You’re welcome. Tell them door’s open_

“Boys,” Josh yelled up the stairs.

“What?” they both called back. Josh waited for them to actually come out of the rooms and at least stand at the top of the stairs.

“James just texted, you two want to go over there for a while?”

“Trying to get rid of us?” Jake asked. From his tone, Josh couldn’t really tell if he was teasing or not.

“You said you’re tired of this house 10 minutes ago, right?” Josh pointed out with a little smirk.

“Let’s go, Jake,” Jessie said. “Change of scenery.” Jake nodded.

“Mind your manners and come home by 10:00, you have school in the morning,” Donna said as they headed for the front door.

“Yes mom,” Jake said as he grabbed an umbrella.

Donna watched them go from the front porch. James waved as he let the boys in his front door. She closed the door and leaned back against it, trying to decide what she wanted to do. 

“This sucks,” Josh said as he walked over to her. Donna just nodded in agreement. Josh leaned against the door next to her and took a few deep breaths.

“Just like old times, leaning against door, trying not to have a nutty,” Donna said as she rested her head on his shoulder for a minute.

“How about I start the water in the tub and put in some cranky baby bubbles,” Josh offered. “You pour some wine and meet me in a few minutes?”

“Perfect,” Donna said as she pushed herself away from the door, gave him a quick kiss and headed for the kitchen.

***********

Over at James’ house he and the boys chatted for a little while. He let them vent about school, using language which wouldn’t have gotten away using at home. They made hot fudge sundaes and then went into the workshop to hammer things to get out some frustrations.

By the time they came back home a few minutes before 10 they were in a slightly better mood. Josh and Donna were in a very good mood. Or to be more precise, Donna was in a really good mood, Josh was sound asleep.


	19. Chapter 19

5/11/20

“Okay Jed, you take care. Try listening to Abbey once in a while. Talk to you soon. We love you too,” Josh said as he hung up his cell. In true Bartlet fashion, he was well on his way to recovering completely from coronavirus. He’d managed to avoid hospitalization, which lessened his presence in the newspapers and on the internet while he recovered.

“Dad, I can’t do my tie cause of this stupid cast,” Jessie said as he came into the kitchen holding a blue and green plaid tie and his cell phone.

“Yeah, I don’t think the cast is the problem,” Jake teased.

“Don’t laugh, you’re not too good at it either,” Jessie smirked.

“Yeah and you’d better learn, I’m not getting up every morning and tying yours for you in September,” Josh said as he took the tie from Jessie. He turned up the collar on Jessie’s denim shirt and set the tie in place, winding it into a neat knot. “And the cast comes off tomorrow, you’ll live for another 24 hours.”

“Finally,” Jessie muttered as he tucked in his shirt and fixed his belt. “Dad, how come you’re not ready?”

“Give me 5 minutes. You sure you don’t want to go?” Josh asked Jake, giving him one last opportunity to join him and Jessie in the city.

“No thanks,” Jake answered. He had no interest in going with Josh and Jessie but he did admit he felt a little odd turning down the special invitation.

“Okay,” Josh answered over his shoulder as he headed to the bedroom to grab his own tie and slip on a pair of shoes.

Washington DC had opened a field hospital earlier in the day at the Washington Convention Center. In just 3 weeks the Army Corp of Engineers had assembled a 437 bed hospital, just in case overflow beds were needed to help those affected by COVID-19. President Santos was going to tour it that afternoon and had invited a few members of the Coronavirus Task Force to join him. Josh had managed to wrangle an invitation for the boys, or at least that’s what he told them. Truth was, Matt Santos had extended the offer to Josh as soon as he had decided to make the trip in the first place. Jessie had always been more interested in the White House, politics and DC in general. He never missed an opportunity to go in the city with one or both of his parents when the occasion arose. 

In preparation for the possibility of going along with the President, the boys had both been tested for COVID by Jill the day before. At that time Jake had been undecided about going so he agreed to be tested. Not surprisingly, they were both negative. Josh had been tested the day before as he had had a meeting in the Oval Office with President Santos.

Josh reappeared in the kitchen a minute later, tie and shoes on, ready to go.

“I’m going to ride my bike with Michael. Will you be home for dinner?” Jake asked.

“Not sure, you okay if we’re not?” Josh asked. Jake just gave a little glare and rolled his eyes. “Yeah, stupid question. I’m sure you enjoy some time to yourself. Take your phone and a mask with you. We’ll call later to check in. Not sure what time Mom’s coming home tonight either,” Josh said as he grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the kitchen chair and slipped it on. Jessie grabbed his backpack from where it was hanging on the bannister. He had packed a book and some other things to keep busy on the train ride and in case Josh got called to the White House, or President Santos got long winded at the thing. He wanted to be prepared for anything.

“Okay, you ready?” Josh asked Jessie. “Have a mask?” Jessie nodded as Josh checked the inside pocket of his jacket for his mask.

They were meeting the President at the Convention Center so they took the red line to Gallery Place and then hopped on a yellow train, getting off at Mt. Vernon Square. They met up with the Secret Service. Josh flashed his ID and they were let inside the perimeter. They handed Jessie an ID badge which identified him as someone allowed access to President Santos. He hung it around his neck, holding it proudly much like Donna did with Josh’s Bartlet for America ID over 2 decades earlier.

The motorcade arrived a few minutes later. Matt Santos noticed Josh and Jessie right away and made a point of coming right over, rushing past some photographers who were not too thrilled at being brushed off.

“Hey, Jessie, still wearing the cast I see,” President Santos said as he held up his elbow for a quick bump.

“Get it off tomorrow and hello Mr. President. Thanks for the invite,” Jessie said as he bumped elbows with the leader of the free world.

“Thanks for coming, and thanks for this,” he said as he pulled out the mask made of USMC fabric which Jessie had sewn for him. Jessie put on his own mask, a Marvel Comics one while Josh put on his blue plaid one, feeling that his Mets mask in Nationals territory probably wasn’t a good idea. The press called out to President Santos who turned to oblige them with a few pictures. Jessie tried to step away but a large hand on his shoulder kept him where he was and he ended up in quite a few pictures. Jessie secretly hoped some of the pictures would end up in the newspaper, or better yet, on the internet, so he could tease Jake about turning down the invitation.

Before heading inside a Secret Service agent motioned towards Jessie’s backpack. He slipped it off and handed it to the waiting agent who took a quick look. “Young man, you come prepared,” he joked as he handed it back over to Jessie.

“Yes, sir. Years of experience,” Jessie explained with a grin.

Jessie found the tour rather interesting. He’d been to the Convention Center a few times and he was amazed at how it was turned into a hospital. He stuck close to Josh, not wanting to get lost even in the socially distanced crowd. 

After the tour President Santos invited them back to the White House. Jessie was beyond thrilled with that invitation, but he was soon beside himself when he suddenly found himself sitting across from Matt Santos in The Beast, the presidential SUV. Josh had hitched a ride with some of the other members of the task force, where he was teased about his young son getting the ride of a lifetime and him being on a mini bus, with 5 others who were almost, but not quite, 6 feet apart. 

Jessie asked a ton of questions about the SUV, some of which President Santos had been able to answer, others he needed the expertise of his Secret Service agent, Dave Ward who was driving. Jessie and Matt took a few masked selfies in the car, which Jessie was all too happy to send to Jake and Donna.

When they arrived back at the White House, a military aide who had been in the front seat of the Beast took his place by President Santos as he talked to Dave for a second. Jessie looked at the aide and the large briefcase in his hand with curiosity. “What’s that?” he asked President Santos as the 3 of them approached the steps to the White House.

“Hey Jack, set down the football and let Jessie pick it up,” he said with a grin. Jessie broke out into a huge, but unseen smile as he was masked. He glanced at Josh who had just gotten out of the van. Josh gave him a big thumbs up. Jessie did manage to pick it up a few inches off the ground, but at 45 pounds it was almost half the boy’s weight.

“What the heck is that thing?” Jessie asked after he put it down and bounded up the steps. 

Before answering his question, President Santos nudged him to turn around and give the Press a wave before they went inside.

“That’s the football. In it are the nuclear launch codes and other top secret information in case I have to act on something and I’m away from the White House. It’s always close by,” President Santos explained as they headed inside. Jessie’s ID from earlier was replaced by a White House visitor ID and he signed his name on the log.

“Why is it called the football?”

“I honestly don’t know. Try Wikipedia,” Matt Santos said with a grin after removing his mask. “Let me talk to your Dad for a little while. I’ll have Michael set you up somewhere,” he said, referring to his body man who’d just appeared.

“Yes, sir,” Michael said with a quick elbow bump for Jessie.

Josh and President Santos talked in the Oval Office for a little while. Michael had set Jessie up in the Roosevelt Room with a can of soda and some M&Ms with the Presidential Seal. Jessie pulled out the book he’d brought along for that very reason.

It was 5:00 when they walked through the Northwest gate to exit the White House grounds. They went to sit on a bench in Lafayette Park to figure out what they were going to do next. On a normal day, they’d have a large option of museums and monuments to choose from. But due to the pandemic the options were very limited. Both pulled out their phones, Josh to text Donna and Jessie to check to see if his picture was on the internet.

_JL-Just finished at the White House. What are you up to?_

_DL-trying to decide between just working through this mess on my desk or stopping to eat. How did Jessie do?_

_JL-I’ll let him tell you. Let’s just say Jake will probably be a little jealous._

_DL-that’s what you get for turning down an invitation from the President. Where are you now?_

_JL-Lafayette Park_

_DL-You want to pick up some dinner and meet me here? I think Jake will enjoy some time at home by himself._

_JL-I’m sure he will. We’ll grab some food and be there soon._

_DL-okay, love you_

_JL-love you too._

“Okay let’s figure out where to order food from and then we’ll pick it up,” Josh said as Jessie was still scrolling through his phone.

“Oh my God, Jake is going to be so jealous,” Jessi announced as he showed Josh a photo on the Instagram account of Matt Santos’ official photographer. It was one of the pictures of Jessie and the President outside the Convention Center. He was even tagged in it. “Hey, how did he know the name on my Instagram account?” Jessie wondered.

“He might have asked me on the ride back to the White House,” Josh said with a grin.

“This is so cool.”

“Yes, it is,” Josh agreed. “Now about dinner?”

****************

Josh and Jessie arrived at Donna’s office a few minutes before 6:00 bearing takeout food from Burrito Brothers, Jessie’s favorite restaurant near Capitol Hill. Senator Fernandez was still in the office and he sat with them for a while, having some chips and salsa before getting back to his work. Jessie had proudly showed him the Instagram post. In response the Senator took a picture with Jessie and they both posted it to their social media feeds.

“I guess Jake will think twice about turning down another invitation,” Jessie muttered around a mouthful of burrito.

“I’m guessing he probably will,” Donna said with a laugh.

They finished their dinner and then Josh and Jessie went for a walk while Donna wrapped up a few things so they could all head home together. As they were passing by the Supreme Court Josh got a text from James. He had something come up and he wouldn’t be able to drop Jessie off the next afternoon to get his cast off. Both Josh and Donna had to be in the city in the morning and one of them was just going to meet Jessie and James at the doctor’s office.

“This better not mean I can’t get this damn thing off,” Jessie muttered.

“Language Jessie,” Josh said calmly. “We will figure it out.”

“Like, I can miss online school tomorrow and go to work with one of you?” he asked hopefully.

“Probably not. But I suppose you could come with one of us and do your schoolwork either at the White House or at Mom’s office but we both have to be in early. We’ll figure it out on the way home.”

“Wait, I have the answer,” Jessie said a minute later as he stopped suddenly pretty much in front of Josh who was not watching where he was going. Thankfully he was using his cane and managed to keep himself upright. “Sorry,” Jessie said with a laugh. 

“Your solution is what?” Josh asked impatiently.

“Let me take the Metro by myself. I’ll meet you or Mom at the doctor’s office. The train stops right at the hospital. I’m 12, I’m old enough to ride by myself,” Jessie said. He’d clearly been waiting for an occasion to plead his case for riding the Metro alone. Jake had ridden it a few times with a group of friends but the boys had never ridden alone or even with just the two of them. 

“We’ll talk to mom,” Josh said as they crossed First Street and headed back towards the Capitol. Donna had just texted and she was done for the night.

**************

In the end it took a little pleading from Jessie, helped by Jake, and a private conversation between Josh and Donna but they all came up with a solution they could all live with. Josh and Donna would let the boys ride the Metro together. If it hadn’t been for the fact that he’d have to change trains at Metro Center, they probably would have just let Jessie do it himself. But they felt better knowing they would look out for each other. Josh made sure they both had masks and Metro cards with them and the Metro app on their phones. They’d been riding the train since they were babies and had been able to read the map for years.

With everything settled the boys ran upstairs to get on a Zoom call with their “cousins”. Jessie wanted to brag about his day with the President and they were excited to tell about their new found freedom.

***************

5/12/20

Jessie barely made it through his classes the next morning. He was beyond excited for two reasons, the cast was finally coming off. And more exciting, Disney+ had announced that morning that the filmed version of Hamilton was coming to the streaming service in July. He had seen it the Kennedy Center in 2018 and was hoping to see it when it returned there but COVID had cancelled the show.

He knew Jake wouldn’t be nearly as excited as he was, so he didn’t bother running to find him when he saw the news come across his Instagram feed.

***************

“You ready?” Jake asked a little before 2:00. 

“Yep,” Jessie said as he sat on the bench the foyer and tied his sneakers. His appointment was at 3:00 so they had plenty of time to walk to the Bethesda Station and make it to the George Washington University Metro stop to meet Donna. 

Jessie texted Donna when they got on the train as she had requested. The train was pretty empty, there were only two other people in their car when they got on. Both put on their headphones and some music for the ride.

They changed trains in Metro Center without a problem, jumping on a blue line train. Donna was waiting for them at the top of the escalator, just as they had planned.

An hour later, Jessie was cast free and very, very happy about it. Donna had to go back to work so she let the boys go get some takeout at Burger Tap and Shake before they got back on the train to head home.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay. I was on vacation and my grand plans of getting up early to write went out the window pretty quickly!!
> 
> Thanks for reading.

5/20/20

Jake woke up and for just a second, had forgotten what day it was. He opened his bedroom door and walked right into streamers and balloons.

“Happy Birthday,” he heard Jessie yell from their shared bathroom.

“Thanks,” Jake called back. 

Josh and Donna were in the kitchen waiting to greet the birthday boy. There were hugs and kisses for the now 14-year-old.

“Pancakes?” Josh asked as Jake slipped onto one of the stools.

“Sure,” he answered with a grin. 

Donna started the coffee maker and put the kettle on to make tea for Jake who had not developed the Lyman love for coffee.

Jessie appeared just as the coffee maker beeped. He helped Josh get breakfast on the table.

“So, there isn’t going to be the usual birthday celebration tonight, obviously,” Donna said. “What would you like to do. Want to order food? What kind of cake do you want?” Donna asked Jake.

Jake thought about it for a minute. “Can we order from Smoke BBQ?”

“Sure. You want to invite Michael over, it’s supposed to be nice and we can eat outside,” Donna offered. Truth was, she’d already texted Michael’s mom the day before to check to see if she felt comfortable with him coming over to eat. She was fine with it. “James is coming too.”

“Cool. How about chocolate cake and vanilla icing? With ice cream, of course,” Jake replied. It was the same request he’d been making for about 14 years.

“Perfect. Now finish up, you still have school this morning,” Donna said with a smile. She was rewarded with a groan from both of the boys.

Everyone worked from home that day. They had lunch together while looking at the take out menu for Smoke BBQ. Josh placed the order for their food before disappearing into his office for a Zoom meeting.

After lunch Jake went out to skateboard with Michael while Jessie went to the store with James to pick up a few things for the little party. Donna finished up her work early and wrapped Jake’s presents before sweeping the deck and cleaning off the table so they could eat outside.

Jessie and James baked Jake’s cake at James’ house. While it was baking, Jessie wrapped Jake’s present. It was a shelf he’d made with James’ help. There were 5 cutouts on the top for Jake’s signed baseball collection. It also had 5 wooden pegs so Jake could hang his baseball hats on. They were forever tossed about his room and Jessie thought it might be nice to have a place where he could keep them.

*************

“Hey Jessie, you want to go with me to pick up the food?” Donna asked a little before 5:00. 

“Sure,” he answered as he shoved his feet into his sneakers and pulled on his Notre Dame baseball cap.

“Josh, we’re going, be back soon. Get some drinks out and set the table,” Donna yelled over her shoulder as she and Jessie went out the front door.

“Okay.”

“Mom, there’s only 6 of us for dinner, how much do you think we eat?” Jessie teased as they loaded the food into the back of the van.

“It’s just the Meat Deluxe package with extra ribs,” Donna smirked. “There’s 2 teenaged boys and one not quite teenager, I’ve seen the three of you eat. Not to mention me, Daddy and James. Besides, Dad and I both have late meetings tomorrow, you and Jake can have leftovers,” Donna explained as she closed the liftgate and walked to the driver’s side.

*********

Their little quarantine birthday party was a big success. Not the usual blowout BBQ they usually did for Jake’s birthday but over the previous few months they’d come to appreciate the little things. Jake was thrilled with his gifts, the shelf from Jessie, a pair of wireless Beats headphones he’d been begging for from his parents along with a St. Alban hoodie with LYMAN on the back, from James a book on skateboarding tricks and from Michael a gift card for Comet Ping Pong. After dinner the boys played basketball in the driveway until it got dark. Donna ran Michael home while Josh cleaned up.

Jessie was in bed by 10:00. Jake wandered into Josh’s office about 10:30. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Josh asked as he set aside the book he was reading. 

“Just got off a zoom call with my friends,” Jake said as he flopped down on the couch.

“Talk to all your aunts and uncles today too, real and otherwise,” Josh teased.

“And cousins, a former President and the current President,” Jake said with a grin. “Kind of surreal sometimes,” he said with a little shrug of his shoulders.

“Yes, it most certainly is,” Josh agreed. “So, it wasn’t your usual big bash but did you have a nice birthday?”

“I did. Quarantine still sucks but we’ve gotten to spend a lot of time together, just the four of us. That’s kind of nice,” Jake said quietly.

“It has been nice and you know who would love to hear you say that?”

“Mom?” Jake guessed as he stood up.

“You got it,” Josh said as Jake held out a hand to pull him to his feet. “Good night.”

“Night, Dad.”

Josh wandered into the bedroom where Donna was sitting on the bed with her laptop.

“Did you see this?” she asked.

“Uh, I can’t tell what you’re looking at,” Josh teased as he changed into his pajamas.

“Now there’s this weird thing that kids are getting, multisystem inflammatory syndrome. Some kids who have had COVID now have this, and some who were just exposed to COVID are getting it. Scary stuff,” she sighed.

“Guess that will be the topic of our next meeting,” Josh muttered aloud.

And it was.

*************

The last week of May, as always, brought about the anniversaries of two of the darkest days of Josh’s life. He quietly acknowledged the anniversary of the shooting in Rosslyn 20 years earlier. There was a phone call from Jed Bartlet and one from Sam on that day. Truth was, Josh was so wrapped up in coronavirus, he nearly forgot about the date until Donna mentioned it. It was hard for them to comprehend that it had been 20 years since that awful day. But there were scars, both seen and unseen, which served as reminders. As the boys had gotten older Josh and Donna had shared more with them about that night, and the days which followed. It led to healthy conversations about race, white supremacy and acceptance of all.

Had it been an ordinary year there probably would have been requests for interviews about the anniversary, given that it had been 20 years. The only one outside of the Bartlet inner circle who mentioned it was President Santos. He had called Josh in for a meeting which turned out to be just an excuse to sit down and visit for a little while without the usual topics of virus spreading, phased reopenings and dying Americans. They shared a drink and talked about their families for a while in the Oval before wandering to the kitchen to raid the vast ice cream selection.

Josh commemorated the other May anniversary by quietly laying flowers at the grave of Delores Landingham. He’d gone, as he did every year, early in the morning and alone. Even though the boys had never met her, they’d heard stories and seen pictures. They helped Josh celebrate her memory by baking cookies using her snickerdoodle recipe. 

***********

6/1/20

Maryland started Phase 1 of their reopening at the beginning of the month. Much to Donna’s delight both for herself and the “boys”, hair salons were opening and she made appointments for all of them as soon as she was able. She also convinced Josh he could lose the quarantine beard.

Restaurants opened up for outdoor dining and the Lyman family took advantage of that to help celebrate Jake’s graduation. Going out to eat provided just a touch of normalcy to the family.

The end of 8th grade for Jake was nothing like he could have ever imagined. The school district did the best they could given the circumstances. They did an online celebration as well as a drive by parade organized by the teachers. One evening they drove to set points within the Bethesda school district where students and their families could gather, following social distancing guidelines, and see their teachers in person for the first time in months. Candy was tossed from the cars by teachers, wearing gloves of course. The kids made signs and everyone did the best they could out of a situation which in Jake’s words, “just plain sucked”.

6/19/20

“Phase 2 today,” Jake announced over breakfast that morning.

Josh was the only other one in the kitchen. Jake was still sleeping and Donna had already gone to work.

“Yep, looks like things may be heading in the right direction. You have an appointment with Louis at 3:00, don’t forget,” Josh said as he stood up to pour himself another cup of coffee.

“I know,” Jessie said with a little Moss eye roll. Ever since he’d gotten his first cell phone he’d been diligent about putting appointments in there, setting alarms etc. Basically he used more of the phone’s capabilities than his father.

“I don’t ask too much because I want you to have some space but how’s it going with Louis?” Josh asked carefully. He or Donna usually talked to Louis after every other of Jessie’s sessions. They knew that if they really needed to know something, Louis would call them.

“It’s good. I think the meds are working. I’m not as miserable,” Jessie said with a shrug of his shoulders as he got up to clear away his mug and cereal bowl. “So what do we get to do now that it’s Phase 2?” he asked, making it clear to Josh that he didn’t really want to continue the conversation about his mental health.

“I don’t know. Why don’t you grab your laptop and look up exactly what Phase 2 means,” Josh said as he glanced at the time. He still had over an hour and a half before his first video meeting of the day. “I’m going to take a quick shower.”

“Okay,” Jessie answered as he went into the family room to grab the laptop he’d left in there the night before.

By the time Josh came back into the kitchen Jessie and Jake had a list of things they wanted to do as things reopened.

“So what’s first?” Josh asked as he ran a hand through his short, but slightly out of control hair. 

Jake slid the list he’d scribbled on a notepad across the table for his dad to see.

“Great, I see I get to go back to the gym,” he groaned. “Basketball camp will start on time and the pool club will open, that’s all good stuff.”

“I really though camp was going to be cancelled,” Jake said. “You going this year, Jess?” he asked his brother. Jessie just shrugged his shoulders and started to pace around the room. Josh started to move towards his younger son but Jake waved him off. “I got this, go do something with your hair before you zoom,” Jake said quietly with a snort. Josh patted both boys on the shoulder and headed to finish getting ready for his day. 

“Hey Jessie, you want to go for a walk?” Jake asked in the same overly enthusiastic tone Donna used frequently on Josh. Like Josh was well known to do, Jessie just gave a little shrug of his shoulders. “How about we take the box of donuts Dad hid in the back of the pantry out to the porch?” Jake suggested with a wicked grin.

“Okay,” Jessie agreed. He poured himself the last of the coffee and followed Jake outside. They settled down on the swing, one on each end sitting cross legged facing each other, the box of powdered donuts in between them. 

“Would it be weird if I didn’t go to basketball camp with you? We’ve done it together since I was 6 and you were 8,” Jessie asked softly.

“Yeah it’ll be weird. But I’m still going,” Jake said as he reached for another donut. “Can I ask you something?”

“I know what you’re going to ask,” Jessie said. “You want to know why I’m not sure about going.”

“Of course I want to know,” Jake said. “If you think I’m going to make fun of you, I won’t.”

“I know that. You haven’t made fun of me at all through all of this whole mess. I’m too scared. I don’t know if I’m scared to go or just scared about everything,” Jessie admitted as he swiped at his eyes, brushing away the tears he felt starting to gather. 

“At the risk of sounding dorky and mushy,” Jake started with a snort as he pulled his knees up, hugging them to his chest. “You’ve worked really hard to get through all of this. You talk to Louis, you do your grounding stuff. I’m kinda proud you, even if you are my annoying kid brother,” Jake teased. 

“I had to go on meds,” Jessie pointed out as he gave up on trying to wipe away his tears. 

“So what, Dad takes the same thing. You think I’m any less proud of him?” Jake asked. Jessie just shook his head as he laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Jake asked as he tossed the now empty donut box onto the table next to the swing. 

“A few years ago you were anything but proud of Dad.”

“Yeah, I was pretty much an ass for a while there, to both of you,” Jake admitted with a little nod as he handed Jessie one of the napkins he’d brought out with him. 

“You were,” Jessie sniffled as he wiped his face. “But thanks for not being one now,” he added as he leaned forward and hugged his brother. Jake wrapped his arms around Jessie, returning the hug.

Josh had been watching and listening to them from the kitchen as the window was open. He was able to quickly snap a picture of them hugging. He wiped away his own tears and sent a text to Donna, the picture and two blue hearts.


	21. Chapter 21

7/4/20

“Well, this sucks,” Jake announced over breakfast.

“What does?” Donna asked. In the previous few months she’d given up on voicing her dislike of both her sons use of the word “suck”. Given the current situation they all found themselves in, the word was more than appropriate.

“Another special day that coronavirus messed up. We lost St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, my birthday, my day at St. Alban, Memorial Day, my graduation and now 4th of July,” Jake explained as he reached for the bacon Josh had just put down on the table.

“Yeah, I agree. But there is absolutely nothing we can do about it,” Donna sighed.

“No fireworks on the Mall, can’t even have sparklers here, stupid county laws,” Jessie muttered.

“You want to grill a nice dinner?” Josh asked, hoping to put an end to the complaining which threatened to take over the day and it was only 8:00 in the morning.

He got the fully expected shrug of Jake’s shoulders, but Jessie did seem to be a little interested in the suggestion. He grabbed his laptop and opened up the Food Network website for some ideas. 

Jessie and Jake researched some recipes and made a shopping list while Donna took a shower.

Jake went out to ride his bike while Jessie and Donna ran to the store. Josh cleaned up the grill while they were out.

Jake reappeared as Donna pulled the van into the driveway. He helped carry the bags in, without complaint and he seemed genuinely interested in what he and Jessie had planned for dinner.

When it came time to start dinner, Josh and Donna were banished from the kitchen by the boys. They grabbed a couple of beers and happily left their children in charge of the meal.

**********

“Wow, that was amazing,” Josh declared as he pushed his plate aside.

The boys had made stuffed cheeseburgers topped with mushrooms and onions, grilled corn on the cob and much to Donna’s surprise, a nice big salad. They were proud of their meal and it showed on their Instagram feeds.

“We made dessert too,” Jessie announced as he picked a cucumber out of the salad bowl and popped it into his mouth.

“Maybe in a little while, I’m stuffed,” Donna said.

The boys went out front to shoot hoops while Josh and Donna cleaned up. 

“I can’t believe they did all this,” Donna said as she surveyed the kitchen which was surprisingly clean.

“The cooking or the cleaning up?” Josh teased as he reached in the fridge for two more beers.

“Both,” Donna smirked as she put the rest of the salad in a Tupperware bowl.

The boys came in when it got dark and they sat at the kitchen table with their dessert, an ice cream cake made from ice cream sandwiches and large amounts of chocolate syrup and peanut butter.

The four of them settled down in the family room for the traditional family watching of 1776.

***********

7/21/20

Josh read the email twice and sighed deeply. He glanced at the time; he had half an hour until his next meeting. Just enough time to talk to Jessie.

“Jessie, come down for a minute,” he yelled up the stairs. He knew the boys were awake but he hadn’t seen much of them yet that morning. It was raining and they were hanging out upstairs, probably playing video games.

“What’s up Dad?” Jessie asked as he bounded down the stairs.

“Come here for a minute,” as said he motioned for Jessie to follow him into the family room.

“Just got an email from the school district,” Josh started. Jessie curled up the corner of the couch, he was pretty sure he knew what was coming next.

“I’m not going back to the classroom, am I?” Jessie muttered.

“Nope, plan for now is to do virtual until January,” Josh explained.

“That’s half the damn year,” Jessie groaned.

Josh let the language slid by. “You want a few minutes?” Jessie nodded and Josh left him alone. He went into the kitchen and poured himself the last of the coffee.

Jake wandered downstairs and Josh explained to him what was going on.

“No plans from St. Alban yet, I checked the website when I got up this morning,” Jake said as he took a seat at on one of the stools and reached for an apple out of the basket.

“I checked too. You want peanut butter?” Josh asked, pointing towards the apple.

“Sure.”

*************

After his last meeting of the day, Josh opened the door to his office, a signal to the boys they were free to come in.

Jessies wandered in and plopped down on the couch with a book and a bottle of Gatorade.

“Whatcha reading?” Josh asked as he pulled off his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. 

“ _Hidden Figures_ ,” Jessie said, holding up the book.

“Summer reading already?” Josh teased.

“It’s almost the end of July. Besides, I told mom I would read the book before we watched the movie again. I think she’s going to ask me what the differences are between the book and the movie.”

“Oh, I’m sure she will,” Josh teased. “I was going to grab a snack and read out on the deck, you want to come with me.”

“Sure.”

Much to Donna’s surprise she found all three of her boys on the back deck reading when she got home a little after 5:00. Jessie was on one of the lounge chairs with _Hidden Figures_ , by the look of it, they’d be rewatching the movie later that night as he was almost done. Josh was on the other lounger reading _1st Case_ , James Patterson’s newest novel while Jake had his feet propped up on the table, one of his summer reading books in his hands, _Growing Up_ by Russell Baker.

“Hey Mom,” Jessie said, being the first one to notice her standing by the slider.

“Well look at you three looking so serious,” she teased as she stepped out onto the deck. She kissed them all on the top of the head before sitting down on the end of the lounge chair Josh was occupying.

“Dad told me about school, Jess. Sorry,” Donna said as she leaned over to pat Jessie’s foot.

“Thanks,” he muttered as he set his book aside.

“How about we go out to dinner, drown your sorrow in something bad for us?” Donna offered. Jessie agreed with a little smile. “I’ll go get changed, you 3 decide where we are going.”

**************

“Where to?” Donna asked as they all piled into the car. Maryland had started to allow inside dining about a month earlier but they had yet to do it, preferring to order in or go places which had outside dining.

“Dog Haus Biergarten,” Jessie announced as he buckled his seatbelt.

“Well, you certainly picked food which is in no way healthy,” Donna teased.

“That’s what you said to do,” Josh pointed out with a snort. Donna had no comment.

Twenty minutes later they were sliding into a booth. The dining room was operating at 50% capacity so everyone was spaced out, making them feel comfortable.

The boys studied the menu, debating the merits of a few different hot dogs and burgers. Everything was served on King’s Hawaiian rolls, a favorite of Donna’s since she and Josh had visited Hawaii over Christmas break a few years earlier.

Jessie decided on a Holy Aioli burger, Jake a Cowboy hot dog, Josh a Chili the Kid hot dog while Donna went a little less heart attack inducing and ordered a Bad Mutha Clucka chicken sandwich. They also order some tater tots and sweet potato fries to share.

“We watching Hidden Figures tonight?” Donna asked as their drinks were served. 

“Yep, I finished it in the car on the way here,” Jessie answered proudly.

“Perfect.”

**********

Dinner out in a restaurant was just what the family needed, a tiny dose of normalcy in their

otherwise unreal existence. 

They watched Hidden Figures that night. Or more precisely, Donna and the boys watched, Josh spent a fair amount of time moaning about his stomach being upset from everything he’d eaten at dinner until Donna told him to go find somewhere else to be miserable.

“Sensitive system,” the boys teased as he left the room.

“A little help here Donna,” he asked, knowing he wouldn’t be getting any.

When the movie was over the boys went up to bed and Donna went in search of her husband. 

She found him asleep on the couch in his office, CNN playing quietly in the background. Donna turned off the television and knelt next to the couch. She ran her fingers through Josh’s hair.

“Hey,” Josh muttered as he struggled to open his eyes. “Movie over?”

“Yeah. How do you feel?” she asked.

Josh sat up, curling up in the corner of the couch. “No so great,” he muttered trying to take a moment to decide what was wrong.

“More than greasy food for dinner?” Donna asked as she sat next to him and pressed a hand to his forehead. He was cool.

“Headache, I don’t know,” he muttered.

“How about I get you something to drink and some Advil,” Donna offered as she rubbed his back a little. 

“Sounds good. I’m going to change, meet me in our room?” Josh said as he held out his hand so Donna could pull him to his feet. 

He was awake longer than Donna had anticipated but eventually Josh did settle down. It took some Advil, a can of ginger ale, an Ambien and a back rub from Donna but by 11:00 he was sound asleep. Donna got things ready for the next day, setting the coffee maker up and laying out some clothes as she needed to go into work for the morning and checking on the boys. Jessie was still reading in his room, Jake was asleep.

By 11:30 all the members of the Lyman clan were asleep.


	22. Chapter 22

Josh didn’t sleep well, wandering to the family room sometime in the wee hours of the morning, crashing on the couch. Donna found him the when she got up the next morning. He had been awake for a while sometime during the night, as evidenced by the half finished mug of tea on the coffee table along with his book and glasses on the end table. Donna pressed a hand to his forehead, much to her relief he was cool. She hoped his problems had just stemmed from his choice of dinner, a hot dog and 2 beers, along with the greasy appetizers. He didn’t stir so she went into the kitchen to get ready for her day.

Donna drank a cup of coffee while checking her email. It was a rare morning she was up all alone, usually Josh or Jessie were up. Jake hadn’t gotten up early since online school had ended over a month earlier.

As she scrolled through her Facebook feed, she heard Josh moving around. She could tell he was using the cane by the extra little tapping between the sound of his footsteps. 

“Hey, morning,” she said cheerfully as she stood up and crossed the room. She kissed his cheek and steered him towards one of the stools at the counter. “Want some?” she asked as she motioned towards the coffee maker. Josh just nodded. “Feel better?” she asked.

“Stomach’s fine, that was just too much food and beer. Head’s better but little stiff today, hence the cane,” he said as he pointed to the simple wooden cane handing from the back of the stool. His laptop was on the counter next to him so he reached to tap and wake it up. He checked the weather. “I think I’ve become one of those people who can predict the weather by my aches and pains,” he muttered as he pointed to the forecast which called for rain.

“That can be your new obsession,” Donna teased. “I have to get going. Take it easy today.”

All three of the Lyman “boys” were a bit out of sorts that day. They decided early in the morning to basically throw themselves a little pity party. As a result they basically lounged around in their pajamas, reading, watching movies and baking for a good part of the day. 

Jake finished reading _Growing Up._ He declared it, pretty good. He still had one more book to read for his summer reading, _The Autobiography of Malcolm X._ He’d gone out with James to Barnes and Noble and picked up a copy earlier in the week. But he wasn’t ready to start that one just yet, he had a pity party to finish.

Jessie had a virtual appointment with Louis in the afternoon, before which he put on a clean shirt but left on his pajama bottoms. He set up in Josh’s office since Josh was currently asleep in the recliner in the family room and Jake was in his room playing a video game.

As he was bit quieter than usual during his session, Louis pressed Jessie a little to get him to open up. Jessie eventually confessed to feeling more anxious about the whole COVID situation and the many changes it had brought about in his young life. He talked about how upset he was over the prospect of many more months of virtual learning. Louis gave him a few more exercises he could use to work through the anxiety and encouraged him to talk to his parents a bit more. Jessie agreed with a little smile, feeling better after talking to Louis.

****************

After watching _The Avengers: Endgame_ in the late afternoon Josh and the boys went into the kitchen to figure out what to do for dinner. Donna had texted to say she was working late and they should just go ahead and cook something for themselves. 

They all hunted through the fridge and the pantry trying to decide what they wanted to eat. 

“Pancakes?” Jessie asked as he help up the box of Bisquick.

“Sure,” Jake agreed. Josh just nodded as he opened the freezer to look for a box of sausage.

They made dinner together, eating a rather impressive amount of pancakes and the entire box of sausage. Josh put on water for tea while the boys cleaned up. Eventually Jake went outside on the deck with his book to read for a while. The rain had ended right before dinner and he just needed to wipe off the Adirondack chair with a towel before settling down with his second and last summer reading assignment.

Jessie hung out in the kitchen with Josh. They sat at the table with their tea with the cookies they’d made earlier. 

“So how was your appointment with Louis?” Josh asked, suddenly remembering Jessie had therapy that afternoon.

“It was okay,” Jessie muttered as he ran his finger over the chip in the handle of his mug. 

“As mom would say…you’re answer isn’t exactly full of information,” Josh teased lightly.

“I guess I’ve been more anxious the last couple of weeks,” Jessie muttered, looking down at the crumbs on the table.

“You haven’t said anything,” Josh pointed out. Jessie just shrugged his shoulders. Josh didn’t really have room to get on Jessie’s case about his lack of communication. His son had definitely inherited that trait honestly.

“Been doing the grounding stuff.”

“What about the Benedryl?” Josh asked.

“Haven’t taken it,” Jessie said as he glanced up to look Josh in the eye.

“It doesn’t help?” Josh asked.

“It does, I just don’t like to have to take it,” Jessie admitted.

“I get that. Not a fan of taken something when I need it either.”

“The Prozac is fine, taking something every day doesn’t bother me. It helps,” Jessie said as he stood up and paced around the kitchen a little.

“I feel the same way,” Josh said. “You are so my kid,” he teased with a little shake of his head.

“Yeah, I know,” Jessie grinned as he hopped up to sit on the counter. 

The conversation ended when Jake came into the kitchen, dripping wet.

“Rain start again?” Jessie snorted.

“Shut up,” Jake muttered as he took the dishtowel Josh was holding out to him. He dried his hair and grabbed a couple of cookies.

“You two want to watch another movie?” Josh asked as Jessie slid off the counter.

“Sure, anything but Hamilton,” Jake teased. Jessie had watched the musical at least twice a week since it launched on Disney+ at the beginning of July.

“Apollo 13?” Jessie suggested. His interest in space had been renewed while reading Hidden Figures. 

“I can live with that,” Jake agreed. “Let me go get changed.”

While Jake was up changing, Josh went into the master bathroom to take some Advil and brush his teeth so he wouldn’t eat anymore junk food. Donna texted to say she would be home in an hour or so.

When Donna got home, the boys were watching the movie. Josh was sound asleep in the recliner. She left him there while she went into the kitchen to look for something to eat. Not in the mood for leftover pancakes she threw a veggie burger on the stove and some fries in the air fryer. She started with just enough for herself but realized once the boys smelled them, they would be looking for some too, so she poured half the bag in and shook on some seasoned salt.

The boys moved over on the couch, making room for Donna and her large bowl of fries.

When the movie ended Jake went up to his room and Jessie stretched out as soon as Donna vacated her spot on the couch. Since he was the only one watching he launched Disney+ and started Hamilton, again.

Josh woke up midway through the first song of the show. He was a little disoriented as when he’d fallen asleep Tom Hanks was trying to return a crippled space craft to earth and now Lin-Manuel Miranda was singing about 1776 New York City.

“Mom’s home,” Jessie said without looking up from the television.

“Thanks,” Josh muttered as he stood up, balancing himself with one hand on the cane and one on the back of the recliner. He took a minute to get his bearings before he headed to find Donna.

“Dad, you okay?” Jessie asked, when he noticed Josh was taking a minute to get moving.

“Yeah, just a little stiff today. I’m fine, go back to your movie,” Josh assured him. He headed slowly down the hall towards the bedroom. Donna was curled up in the chair with a book.

“Hey,” he said as he leaned in the doorway. Donna held out her hand to him and he crossed the room. He gently lowered himself to sit on the arm of the chair, leaning over to give her a kiss.

“So, a pity party all around today?” she teased lightly.

“Pretty much. I think we all needed it. It was kind of nice though, we hung out together, nobody hid in their rooms. We made cookies, made dinner, watched a few movies,” Josh said as he squirmed a little clearly trying to get comfortable.

“How about you get into bed? You’re looking a little miserable,” Donna suggested as she rubbed his back a bit.

“Yeah, pretty stiff and uncomfortable,” he admitted as Donna stood up and held her hand out to helped pull him to his feet.

He stretched out with a groan as Donna turned out the light and slid into bed next to him. She rubbed his back while they chatted about Jessie for a few minutes. They planned to talk to Jill in the next couple of days, get her feelings on the situation.

Upstairs Jake was falling asleep with his book on his chest, Jessie was in the family room singing along softly to Hamilton.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Didn't mean to take an almost 2 month break from this but COVID fatigue has completely set in and even the thought of writing about it was beyond me for a while.
> 
> But I'm back and eager to write more about the life of the Lyman family.
> 
> Thanks to all who are still reading.

8/6/20

Jessie knocked lightly on Josh’s office door. It wasn’t closed all the way, so he was pretty sure his dad wasn’t in the middle of a Zoom meeting.

“Come in,” Josh called over his shoulder. He was sitting at his desk, feet propped up, laptop balanced on his knees reading the CNN headlines.

“Louis wants to talk to you,” Jessie said quietly as he handed Josh his open laptop. Josh set his own aside and took the computer from his younger son. Jessie’s face gave nothing away as to why his therapist wanted to talk to Josh. Josh just nodded okay as Jessie turned to leave the room.

“Hey, Louis,” Josh said. A few seconds later, not getting a response, he realized Jessie had turned off the camera and microphone to run down the stairs to his office. He enabled both and tried his greeting again.

***********

“So, Jessie was a bit quiet at dinner,” Donna noted as she handed Josh the detergent tablet so he could put it in and start the dishwasher. She arrived home just as Josh and the boys were getting dinner on the table so Josh didn’t have time to give her the usual synopsis of their day.

“Had a session with Louis that didn’t go all that well. Apparently, Jessie has inherited my ability to shove things down and try to deal with them on his own.”

“At least you realize that’s where he got his abilities from,” Donna said, trying to inject a bit of levity into what was likely to devolve into a serious conversation in the next few minutes. “How about I go change and you meet me out on the porch in a few minutes.” Josh just nodded in agreement. “Bring the beer,” Donna added over her shoulder as she headed down the hall.

Josh grabbed two beers out of the fridge and stepped out into the humid summer night. The weather had been warm and sticky for a week or so and he’d spent a good deal of time indoors. He and Jessie tried to go out and walk everyday but sometimes if they didn’t do it first thing in the morning, they’d lose all ambition as the sun rose higher in the sky and the humidity kicked in.

He settled down on the swing, absently starting it with his foot as he twisted the cap off one on the beers, setting the other on the swing next to him. Donna came out a minute later, pulling her hair back into a messy bun before picking up her beer and sitting next to him. She turned sideways, pulling her feet up. Josh held up his bottle, clinking it softly against hers in a silent toast.

“So what’s up with our youngest child?” Donna asked as Josh started the swing.

“Apparently the Benedryl isn’t cutting it anymore. Don’t worry, he has been overdosing on it or anything, just doesn’t think it really works. Louis thinks it’s time to go back to see Jill, see what she suggests. He did warn me that she might suggest he see a child psychiatrist, so we need to be prepared for that,” Josh explained. “She might also just adjust the Prozac, who knows?”

Donna sighed. “How much does Jessie know?”

“Louis told Jessie that he thought he should check in with Jill. Jessie, of course, doesn’t have a problem with that. I’ll give her a call tomorrow, she when she can squeeze him in.”

“How did we not notice this?” Donna asked as she picked at the label on her bottle of beer.

“Like I said, he is my kid,” Josh said with a shrug of his shoulders. “Both the boys have been quiet and withdrawn this summer. It’s been weird for all of us. I admit I’ve struggled more than I’ve let on,” Josh said quietly. 

“Kind of figured,” Donna said as set her beer down on the table. Josh set his beer down too and stretched out with his head in Donna’s lap. 

“But you never said anything,” he said pulling off his glasses. Donna took them from him and set them on top of her head.

“I know if you really needed something, you’d ask. It took me the better part of a decade to convince you of that fact, but you finally learned,” Donna teased. Josh let out a chuckle as she ran her fingers through his hair. 

“Is this ever going to end?” Josh uttered as he took a deep breath. “I don’t know how much more I can take before I crack,” he sighed, only half joking.

“There have been some good things about it,” Donna said, ever the optimist. “Even Jake told me it’s been nice the four of us spending time together.

“Yeah, we’ve had some good times this summer,” Josh agreed. “But in the words of the boys, a lot of it has just sucked.”

“Yeah, it has,” Donna chuckled.

They were quiet for a few minutes, lost in their own thoughts. Donna ran her fingers through his hair. Josh let his eyes slide closed as he tried to take a few deep breaths to push back the anxiety he felt creeping up. He was on the verge of giving up trying to hide his struggles.

The sound of the screen door opening, gave Josh the last little bit of effort needed to squelch everything down, again.

Jessie came out on the porch. He dropped into one of the twin wicker chairs, throwing his legs over the arm. 

“What’s up buddy,” Josh asked as he sat up. Donna handed him his glasses. 

“How about I let the two of you talk,” Donna said with a smile. Both nodded silently. She dropped a kiss to both of their heads and went inside.

“You gonna talk or do I have to ask questions?” Josh said as he pulled his legs up, sitting crossed legged on the swing.

“That’s pretty much what Louis says to me every week,” Jessie said with a little laugh as he kicked his sneakers off, letting each of them drop with a little thud. “Can I try something other than Benedryl? I don’t think it really works.”

“Obviously that’s not up to me, but how about I make an appointment for both of us to see Jill?” Josh suggested. 

“Okay,” Jessie said as he wiped at his eyes a little.

“You know you can talk to me, anytime, about anything, right?” Josh asked.

“I do, just like you know you can talk to Mom,” Jessie smirked.

“We are quite the pair, aren’t we?” Josh asked.

“Mom would agree with that,” Jessie smiled.

They looked up to see James coming across the yard, carrying a couple of empty Tupperware containers and a sweatshirt Jessie had left at his house earlier in the week.

“Hey,” they both said as James walked up the steps. Jessie caught the sweatshirt which was tossed in his direction.

“What are you two up to?” James asked as he sat down in the other wicker chair, next to Jessie.

“Not much,” Josh answered quickly. James took notice of the undertone of Josh’s quick answer.

“So, I was going to run out for ice cream. Anyone care to join me?” James asked.

Jessie was pretty much heading inside before James got his question out.

“Everything okay?” James asked, as the front door closed behind Jessie.

“Apparently he’s struggling more than he’s letting on,” Josh said as he pushed himself to his feet, standing for a few seconds to get his bearings. He didn’t have his cane with him, it was somewhere inside.

“Can’t imagine where he gets that from,” James snorted. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

Josh and the boys went with James for ice cream, Donna chose to stay home alone and enjoy a little peace and quiet.

****************

8/7/20

Jake clicked on the email from St. Albans with a sinking feeling. He’d been not so patiently waiting for an update on the opening of school. Being as he was going to start high school in a completely new setting, he was hoping for in person learning but not holding his breath.

Remote learning to start, not what he wanted but what he had expected. But there was a small bright spot, the school hoped to do some orientation activities, in person and outside. That would start on September 1st with remote learning starting full time the week after.

Jake looked up to see Jessie standing in the doorway. “What are you doing? You want to make waffles for breakfast?”

“Reading an update from school. Trying to do in person orientation outside and remote learning until at least the middle of October,” Jake said as he set the laptop on the bed and slid off.

“So, school pretty much sucks for both of us,” Jessie said with a shrug of his shoulders. “I think we need waffles.”

“Sure,” Jake said as they ran down the stairs. He got the pancake and waffle mix out of the pantry while Jessie started another pot of coffee for himself and turned on the flame under the tea kettle for his brother.

Jessie looked out the door to see if Donna’s van was in the driveway, he didn’t remember if she was going in to work or working from home that day. Finding the driveway empty he wandered down the hall to see if Josh was in his office.

“Working hard?” Jessie teased as he found his Dad lounging on the couch, playing a game on his phone.

“Not exactly. What are you two doing?” Josh asked, looking over his shoulder.

“Making waffles. Jake just found out he’s got remote learning too,” Jessie explained. “You want some?”

“Sure, sounds better than the yogurt I had with mom earlier,” Josh smirked as he pushed himself to his feet. He started to take a step, looking around for his cane.

“I think it’s in the family room,” Jessie said, realizing what Josh was looking for. “I’ll grab it.” He found the cane and tossed it to Josh before heading to help Jake with the waffles.

As they ate Josh let the boys vent about their school situation. He let them use some language he preferred they didn’t use outside of the home, or in front of Donna.

“Okay rein in the language,” Josh said as he poured himself the rest of the coffee and rinsed the pot.

“Fine,” the boys muttered as they helped him clean up the kitchen.

“What are you two doing today?” Josh asked as he was washing the griddle. He glanced over his shoulder and noticed only Jessie was left in the kitchen.

“Ran up to grab his cell phone,” Jessie said. “It’s not humid and disgusting out today, maybe we’ll do something outside. What are you doing?”

“I have a meeting at 11:00 and then I have to make a few appointments, one of which is for you and I to see Jill.”

“Why do you have to go?” Jessie asked as he hopped up on the counter.

“Well, as your mother says, I’ve been walking around like I’m 80,” Josh muttered as he reached for the dishtowel.

“Yeah, you have been a little gimpier than usual,” Jessie teased, leaning out of the way of the dishtowel which was snapped in his direction.

Jake came back downstairs and the boys tried to decide what to do while Josh went to take a quick shower.

****************

“Okay we have a plan,” Jake said as they walked into Josh and Donna’s room as Josh was sitting on the overstuffed chair, putting on his sneakers.

“And how much is this plan going to cost me?” Josh muttered.

“It’s not money we need,” Jessie said. “Well, it might be nice but that’s not the point,” he smirked. Josh just motioned to them to move along and maybe get to their plan.

“Can we go to the Zoo?” Jake asked. “It’s the only Smithsonian thing open in the city.”

“So really you’re asking to take the Metro by yourselves,” Josh said, quickly figuring out what his sons really needed.

“It’s only 4 stops,” Jessie pointed out. “And we’ve done it before and we had to change trains,” he said, pleading their case.

“Let me check with Mom and see what she thinks. Why don’t you start by seeing if there are spots open, I know you have to make reservations,” Josh offered as he grabbed his cell off the nightstand. 

The boys nodded and left the room with some hope they’d be able to carry out their plan.

_JL-boys are asking to go to the Zoo by themselves, any objections?_

_DL-I think it’s fine. They need to make a reservation_

_JL-checking that now. And before you ask, I am not up to walking that much._

_DL-and they didn’t ask you to go?_

_JL-bingo. Frankly I could use some time to myself_

_DL-to make yourself a few appointments._

_JL-I do have a meeting at 11:00 but yes, I’ll call Jill later_

Jessie stuck his head in the doorway. “There’s plenty of spots open,” he announced.

_JL-slots open for today._

_DL-tell them to be smart and I’ll see all of you later. Love you_

_JL-love you too_

“Okay, you two can go by yourselves. Mom says be smart,” Josh teased.

“When are we not smart?” Jake smirked.

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Josh smirked right back.

***********

An hour later the boys headed out, Metro cards and masks packed in their backpacks. Josh did give them money for lunch. He waved from the front porch before heading inside to get ready for his meeting. He wasn’t really worried about them going off by themselves. They looked after each other in general and Josh had the capability of tracking their phones, a fact well known to the boys.

***********

Jake and Jessie thoroughly enjoyed their freedom. They spent a few hours at the Zoo before heading to grab a late lunch at Duke’s Counter after checking in with Josh.

“What should we do now?” Jake asked as he reached for the last few fries on the plate in between them. 

“Think we can do anything else?” Jessie mused as he finished his Coke.

“We can try,” Jake said with a grin. “What did you have in mind, it’s not like there’s much open?”

“Maybe we can just walk around the Mall? I kind of just miss the city,” Jessie said with a shrug of his shoulders.

“Let’s try,” Jake said as he picked up his cellphone.

_JaL-done with the zoo and Duke’s. Can we walk around the Mall? Jessie misses the monuments._

_JoL-just Jessie?_

_JaL-guess I do too_

_JoL-that’s fine. Just check in once in a while._

_JaL-thanks_

“That worked. Wonder what else we can ask to do?” Jake said as he pulled out the money Josh had given them for lunch.

“Probably shouldn’t push our luck,” Jessie pointed out.

They paid and used the restroom before heading back to the Metro.

**************

While the boys were headed towards the Mall, Josh was on the phone with Jill. She had room to see both Jessie and Josh on Monday afternoon. Josh checked his schedule, finding the afternoon free so he took the appointment. They spoke for a few minutes so Jill had some idea why two of her favorite Lyman guys were coming to see her.

**************

The boys took the red line to Metro Center and changed to a blue line train, getting off at the Smithsonian stop. As soon as they got off the escalator at street level, they took a few selfies with the Washington Monument in the background, posting to their Instagram accounts with #freedom.

They walked from the station heading west towards the Washington Monument. They took a few more pictures for their respective Instagram stories at the monument before continuing to the World War II and Lincoln Memorial.

Jessie snapped a pic of them with Abe in the background, sending it to Donna. 

_DL-you two want to come here and say Hi?_

_JeL-Sure_

_DL-okay, take your time, I still have some work to do_

_JeL- okay, we’ll text when we get there_

They pondered the merits of walking uphill to the GWU/Foggy Bottom station or heading back east to the Federal Triangle station. In the end, not walking uphill the whole way to the Metro won out. They stopped for ice cream at a food truck on 14th Street before cutting through Woodrow Wilson Plaza and heading down the escalator to the train.

Jake hadn’t been to the Capitol complex since lockdown had begun. Jessie had only been there once, the day he’d gone with Josh and President Santos to visit the field hospital at the Convention Center. 

Jessie texted Donna and she came out to meet them. They got visitor passes for the Russell Senate building and followed her to her office. 

Senator Fernandez was working in his office and came out when he heard their voices. They asked him for a selfie post to their social media pages. He obliged and visited with them for a few minutes before going back to work. 

The boys chatted with Donna’s long time assistant, Megan who they hadn’t seen since COVID hit. Donna found the three of them in one of the conference rooms eating snacks. The boys were sharing their pictures from the day with Megan.

“You two want to take a walk?” Donna offered.

“To the Capitol?” Jessie asked hopefully.

“Yep, let’s go,” she said with a smile.

They headed for the pedestrian tunnel connecting the Russell Senate Building the Capitol building. While they walked the boys told Donna all about their day. It was clear some freedom and a little adventure was what they both needed after a few weeks of too many disappointments.

The trio visited the Rotunda, Statuary Hall and the Visitor’s Center. It had been a long time since they’d hung out there together. 

After checking in with Josh who was enjoying his time alone, Donna and the boys went to grab some dinner before heading home.


	24. Chapter 24

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> COVID fatigue is setting in for the Lymans

8/10/20

Josh lifted up the newspaper spread out on the kitchen table, looking for his ringing cellphone. He took a glance at the Caller ID---Dr. Jill Conners.

“Hey Jill, what’s up?” Josh asked as he carried his empty coffee mug to the counter, filling it up with the last of the coffee in the pot.

“So you and Jessie were my next to last appointment today. Last one just cancelled. How do you feel about a house call? Would love to see all of you. Of course, this all hinges on the fact that I’m assuming you and Jessie don’t need any medical equipment I can’t fit in my bag,” Jill teased.

“No, we don’t need anything like that,” Josh teased right back. “I can offer you dinner, we can eat outside, 6 feet apart if you’d like,” he offered as he opened the freezer to see what he had in there to grill. He found a package of hamburgers and he knew there were hot dogs in the fridge.

“Sounds perfect. I’ll bring dessert. I’ll be there about 4:30, can check out my favorite guys before we eat.”

“Great. I’ll see you later,” Josh said as he ended the call and quickly texted Donna to tell her the plans. She had a light day planned and was fairly sure she would beat Jill.

Jessie came into the kitchen wearing plaid boxers and a Nationals t-shirt. He’d clearly just woken up. His curls were beyond out of control, he needed a haircut, actually all the male members of the Lyman family needed to get their hair cut. “What time’s our appointment?” he asked as he opened the bread box to grab a bagel. 

“Actually, Jill just called, she’s going to make a house call, in exchange for dinner. Sound good?”

“Sure. You going to work today?”

“Yeah, I have to get going, actually. James is going to drop me at the Metro Station in half an hour,” Josh said as he headed to his room to finish getting dressed. “I should be back by 3:00.”

“Okay,” Jessie said as he grabbed the butter out of the fridge.

Josh finished getting dressed and packing up his backpack. He came back into the kitchen as Jessie was finishing up his breakfast. “Hey Jessie, there’s a bag of cole slaw mix and dressing in the fridge, can you mix that up?” he asked as he sat down to put on his shoes. 

“Sure, what else?” Jessie muttered around the last bite of his bagel.

“Make sure we have some baked beans and chips. If we need anything, just text Mom, she can stop by the store on the way home.”

“Got it,” Jessie muttered, his attention turned towards his cell phone.

***************

“I got it,” Jessie yelled when he heard the doorbell ring a few minutes after 4:30. “Hey Doc,” he said as he opened the door to find Jill standing there with her medical bag in one hand and a plastic bag from the food store in the other. He took the plastic bag from her, looking inside and finding ice cream and chocolate chip cookies.

“Hey,” Josh said as he came into the room with a smile.

“Hey, yourself,” Jill echoed, biting back the urge to point out he was limping around more than he had in quite a while, despite the cane.

Jill set her bag down on the kitchen table as Jessie put the ice cream in the freezer and the cookies on the counter.

Josh made a pot of coffee for himself and Jill, Jessie had disappeared to go back to the video game he’d been playing with Jake. Jill and Josh made small talk while the coffee brewed. He teased her about her lack of social life, she pointed out it wasn’t exactly easy to use a dating app in the middle of a pandemic, especially as a doctor.

“So, what’s up?” Jill asked as Josh set up mug of coffee in from him with a grateful smile.

Josh sat down diagonally from her, trying his best to look put together and comfortable but not coming anywhere close.

“I think COVID fatigue has set in. Just out of sorts mostly, I suppose. And before you ask, yes, I’ve been doing Zoom therapy every other week,” Josh sighed.

“Glad to hear that. I think most people are feeling the way you are, honestly. But it’s nice to see you realize you’re not doing all that great right now. I can increase the Prozac if you feel you need it,” she offered.

“Family discount to increase it for both of us?” Josh snorted. Jill just chuckled. “Probably not the worst idea. To answer your next question, no I don’t need anything _as needed_. I don’t think the same can be said for our child.”

“We’ll get to him in a minute. What’s with your hip?” she asked, pointing in the general direction of his right leg.

“Just acting up the last few weeks. More stiff than usual. I’m sure some of it is that I’m not up and about as much. Too much time sitting down on Zoom calls, I suppose. Jessie and I try to walk but it’s been so hot and humid lately. And I know I’m just giving a bunch of excuses,” he said with a wry laugh. 

“Maybe, but we knew that the surgery you had a few years ago wasn’t a permanent solution. We’ll get some x-rays, bloodwork and you make an appointment to see Ted Carter in the next few weeks.”

“You think we’re at the hip replacement stage?” Josh asked, knowing what the answer would probably be.

“Most likely but it’s not emergent. Can probably wait until we’re no longer in the middle of this pandemic.”

“Yeah, that would be my preference,” Josh muttered as he picked up his mug of coffee.

“So, what about my little friend?” Jill asked as she got up to pour herself some more coffee.

“I think he’s just struggling in general too. Not looking forward to remote learning until January. Tired of hanging out with his family. He says the Benedryl isn’t working like it was before. He’s open to trying something else, increasing the Prozac, whatever you think. Louis mentioned a child psychiatrist might be an option too. That I don’t think he’s thrilled about.”

“I think I feel comfortable trying a few more things before we make that referral. Why don’t you find him and I’ll take him out on the porch and chat?”

Josh called for both the boys to come down, for Jake to help him with dinner and for Jessie to join Jill on the swing.

**************

“So, not doing so great?” Jill asked as she and Jessie sat down on the porch swing.

“Not really but I’m not sure what’s really wrong,” Jessie said with a shrug of him shoulders.

“Yeah, you are your father’s son,” Jill teased, getting a chuckle from Jessie. “Dad and Louis said you don’t think Benedryl is cutting it anymore?”

“Not really. Can we try something else?”

“Sure, it will be a prescription this time, so I’m going to ask Mom or Dad to hold it. That okay with you?”

“Sure. It’s not one of those drugs they warn us about in school, is it. I’ve seen those videos, things don’t end well,” Jessie said with a little snort.

“No, nothing you’ll get hooked on. I can assure you of that,” Jill teased. “It’s called Vistaril, works similarly to Benedryl but maybe different enough that it’ll work. And I’ll increase the Prozac a little. I know you talk to Louis once a week on Zoom. What do you think about maybe doing a group thing? Still on Zoom for now.”

“A group with other kids?”

“Yeah, a small group of kids just like you, who are having a rough time,” Jill explained.

“Boys and girls, or just other boys?” Jessie asked, contemplating the idea.

“Up to you,” Jill smiled.

“I think just boys. How often?”

“There are different programs, I think for now Louis can look for something once a week, probably an hour or so in the afternoon. There are more structured programs called IOPs, which is Intensive Outpatient Program. That would be 3 days a week, for about 3 hours. I don’t think you need that,” Jill explained. “I think you just need to know you’re not alone.”

“Yeah, a group might be nice,” Jessie agreed as he looked down, studying his hands.

“Good. How about you and I go check on the dinner situation. Maybe catch your Dad before he totally burns our burgers,” Jill teased.

Donna arrived just as the food was being set out on the table. She changed quickly and joined everyone on the deck.

****************

Dinner was lively and just what they all needed. Everyone was chatty, Jill was having a hard time keeping up with all four members of the Lyman family vying for her attention.

After they ate, the boys cleaned up, Josh, Donna and Jill went into his office. They talked about her conversation with Jessie and what she proposed as far as meds adjustments and additions. Josh and Donna both thought the group would be a good idea. Donna went to check on the boys while Jill gave Josh a quick once over, blood pressure, pulse and a little poking and prodding of his hip. She left him with a script for bloodwork and x-rays for himself and an increase in Prozac and Vistaril for Jessie.

“Dessert,” Jessie yelled down the hall towards Josh’s office.

“Coming,” Jill and Josh answered in unison. She held out her hand to pull him to his feet and handed him his cane.

Dessert was just as lively as dinner.


	25. Chapter 25

As the summer wore on, the boys settled into a new routine. Every few days they looked up what new things had reopened in the city, negotiated their plans with their parents and set off on a new adventure. They’d been to the American History Museum, the Museum of Natural History and the National Portrait Gallery. They’d gone skateboarding in Freedom Plaza a few times and they’d spent hours visiting the monuments. They always made sure to check in, usually using creative selfies sent to Josh and Donna to let them know their whereabouts. 

Jessie did well with the increase in his Prozac and the Vistaril when he needed it. He didn’t take it all that often, just the knowledge that he had something should he need it was enough to help him. Louis found an online group for Jessie and he’d attended it virtually a few times and genuinely seemed to enjoy it. He was glad to find out he wasn’t the only kid who felt the way he did. In fact, Jessie talked about the group session so much that Josh was beginning to think maybe he should look for a group to join. 

Taking Dr. Conners’ suggestion, Josh had made an appointment with Ted Carter, his orthopedic surgeon. After meeting with him and having some x-rays done, together they came to the conclusion that when the pandemic slowed Josh, would be getting a new right hip. While Josh wasn’t thrilled about the whole idea, he knew deep down it was the right decision. And with the way the pandemic was still going, it wasn’t like he’d be having the surgery soon. 

During the last week in August, Donna and Jake spent one rather exhausting day in the city shopping for school clothes. Jake had been wearing sweats, shorts and jeans for the better part of his 14 years, only dressing up when absolutely necessary. So, shopping for khakis, dress pants and blazers for school was quite the adventure. Josh had planned on joining them but a near tumble down the steps of the back deck had left him sore and cranky, so he opted out and Jessie, taking a suggestion from his mother, stayed home to keep an eye on his father.

“You think things are going well?” Josh asked as he and Jessie were sitting on the back deck eating hot dogs and chips. Jessie had grilled for the first time, under the watchful eye of Josh.

“It’s Jake and dress clothes, of course it’s not going well,” Jessie snorted as he reached for a handful of chips.

While Josh rested out on the deck, under the pretense of reading a book, Jessie went out to the driveway to shoot free throws for a while before curling up on the porch swing with the last Harry Potter book. He was determined to finish the series, for the third time, before school started.

After many more hours than either of them had planned Jake and Donna arrived home bearing 2 pairs of khakis, 2 pairs of dress pants, 2 blazers, 5 dress shirts, two ties and some dress socks. Enough to get him started at St. Alban’s. Donna had incorrectly assumed there was an actual uniform needed and a specific store at which to buy said uniform. That would have been much easier with a lot less discussion involved.

Jake took up his new clothes to show Jessie who was actually excited to take a look at them. Jessie had always cared more about what he looked like than his older brother. 

“You look like you need a drink,” Josh teased as Donna wandered out onto the deck where he’d been reading in a lounge chair. She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss.

“More than one. That was exhausting. You can take him for shoes, I didn’t have it in me to handle that today,” Donna said as she nudged Josh’s legs over a little, giving her room to sit down.

“James and I will do that in the next few days. Might as well take Jessie too, I’m sure he needs new sneakers.”

“I’m sure,” Donna agreed as she snuggled against Josh’s side, head on his shoulder.

As she felt herself start to completely relax, the slider door opened and the boys barreled out, wanting to know what was for dinner.

***************

Later that night Jake and Jessie spent some time matching ties with shirts, both the new ties and the ones Jake already owned. They went online and look at some shoe options, which quickly turned from school shoes for Jake to new sneakers for both of them. 

**********

“I’m home,” Donna yelled as she came through the door. She dropped her tote bag on the bench on the foyer and quickly sorted through the mail no one had apparently thought to bring in during the day.

“Office,” Josh yelled back.

Donna stopped by the bedroom to kick off her shoes before heading to the office to see what Josh was up to. She found him stretched out on the couch, bare feet resting on the arm. The television was turned to CNN but it was clear he wasn’t really paying attention.

“You look like you could use a drink,” Donna teased as she took in Josh’s slightly disheveled, slightly exhausted look. She nudged him over a little so she could perch next to him. She ran her hand through his messy hair and pressed a kiss to his forehead. 

“Yeah, James and I went shoe shopping with the boys. Quite the adventure. Well, the sneaker part was easy, finding dress shoes Jake found comfortable and not dorky, not quite so easy. But we prevailed,” Josh explained with a sigh.

“Glad to hear it. And where are our offspring?” Donna asked, realizing the house was rather quiet.

“James invited them over for pizza and a movie,” Josh explained as he tugged on Donna’s arm until she stretched out with him on the couch. 

“So we are home alone?” Donna asked as she reached to updo a few buttons of the dress shirt Josh was wearing. It was clear he’d had at least one Zoom meeting as he was wearing the dress shirt and cargo shorts.

“All alone for the next few hours,” Josh teased and he reached to undo a few of Donna’s buttons too.

**************

“We’re home,” Jake called from the front door a little after 10:00.

“Quiet, your Dad’s sleeping,” Donna said as she poked her head on the foyer where the boys were kicking off their shoes. Jessie handed her a plastic bag with two leftover brownies. 

“Sorry,” the boy said as they headed for as they followed Donna into the kitchen.

“You two have a nice time?” she asked.

“Yeah, we had pizza and watched Spiderman Homecoming,” Jessie said as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge. “What did you and Dad do?”

“Just hung out,” Donna answered, after she stopped choking on the sip of water she’d taken just as Jessie asked his innocent question.

Jake snorted a little. “Let’s go,” he said to Jessie, pointing in the direction of the family room.

Donna laughed to herself as she set up the coffee maker for the morning, started the dishwasher and moved over a load of laundry before checking on the boys and heading for bed.

8/30/20

Jessie stood in front of his closet, looking through his shirts trying to decide on what to wear for his first day of 7th grade. He didn’t need to worry about pants or shorts as they wouldn’t been seen during virtual learning. He grabbed a short-sleeved plaid shirt and took it downstairs.

“Mom, can you teach me how to iron?” he asked when he found Donna in the kitchen loading the last few things into the dishwasher.

“Uh, yeah,” she said with a grin. “After I teach you maybe you can give your father some pointers,” she added with a smirk.

“You know I’m sitting right here,” Josh muttered from the kitchen table where he was reading something on his phone.

“Go set up the ironing board in the laundry room and I’ll be there in a minute,” Donna said as she started the dishwasher. “Find your brother, he needs to learn too,” Donna said as she grabbed a bottle of water to fill the iron. “You coming too,” she teased Josh as she pressed a kiss to the top of his head.

“I think I’m good,” he teased right back as he turned his attention back to his phone.

8/31/20

Jessie set up his laptop at his desk. He’d turned the desk to have his back to the wall and then spent the previous few days carefully choosing what was would show behind him. After much deliberation he decided on a poster print of a stylized map of Washington DC and two carefully chosen pictures, one of his family with Jed and Abbey Bartlet at the Josiah Bartlet Presidential Library and the other, one of the selfies he’d taken with Matt Santos in the Beast. His choice of artwork earned him some teasing from his family.

He was up by 7:00 on the first day of school, much earlier than he needed to be as he didn’t need to be online with his class until 9:00. He showered and took time taming his curls. When he was satisfied with the results, he went downstairs to grab some breakfast.

“You’re up early,” Donna said as he slid into the kitchen in his socks.

“Yeah, I couldn’t sleep anymore,” he replied as he shrugged his shoulders. He grabbed a mug out of the cabinet and poured himself some coffee. “Do you have to go into work today?”

“Yes. I don’t think Dad has anything today. I think he and Jake are going to go grab a few things Jake still needs for school. Should be out of your way for a good part of the day,” Donna explained, knowing that’s what Jessie really wanted to hear.

“Good,” Jessie said as he grabbed the box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch out of the pantry. He poured himself a large bowl and scrolled through his phone while he ate.

At 8:55 Jessie took one last look in the mirror before sitting down to log onto his first day of 7th grade.

9/2/20

“It’s about to start,” Jake called from the family room. He’d set up the laptop on the coffee table and was sitting cross legged on the couch waiting for the Virtual Opening Cathedral Service for school. He’d spent the previous day online meeting his teachers and getting information about how the whole school year would begin. He was looking forward to meeting his new classmates in person later that afternoon for their in person face-to-face orientation. He’d talked to some boys online and had met two in person a few weeks earlier. They were boys who lived within bike riding distance.

The 3 remaining members of the Lyman clan sat down just as the service started.

When it was over, the family scattered about. Jake went to shower and get ready for his orientation. Josh got set up for his first Zoom meeting of the day, after pouring himself another cup of coffee. Jessie got dressed and made sure everything was set up for his own classes which started at 10:00. Donna did some work at the kitchen table. She was going to work at home in the morning, drop Jake and school and head into the city for a meeting with Senator Fernandez in the afternoon. The Senator had been very flexible with all of his staff as far as working remotely when needed. Donna split her time pretty evenly between working from home and going into the office. Truth was, it was a little distracting to work from home, especially if all 3 “boys” were also home.

*************

Donna pulled the van over to the curb on Wisconsin Ave, not too close to the school as requested by Jake. Being they were at least half a block away from the school, Jake leaned over and kissed his mom goodbye before giving her a big dimpled smile and a thumbs up. Donna waved goodbye and quickly took a quick picture of Jake walking away, black backpack slung over his shoulder, just like his father. She sent the picture to Josh and headed in the direction of the Capitol.

*************

Despite all the COVID restrictions, St. Alban’s School had done their best to make the outside orientation comfortable and informative for the incoming freshman. About two thirds of his class had attended St. Alban’s for years, the other third were like him, 9th graders new to the school. Jake quickly found the two boys he’d already met in person, Matthew and Christopher.

They did some team building activities, took a tour of the grounds and met some of their teachers. While not exactly the introduction to St. Alban’s Jake had hoped for, he felt good about the experience. 

James picked him up about 2:30. Jessie had wanted to come along but he had a check-in session for English and History until 2:30. So James picked Jake up and they stopped for ice cream on the way home, making sure to bring some home for Josh and Jessie.

***************

By the end of the first month of school the boys had settled into their school routines.

Jessie was completely virtual, Jake went to St. Alban’s on Monday and Friday afternoons, spending the remain of the week online from the comfort of his room. 

Donna also settled into a somewhat regular schedule, following Jake’s school schedule on Mondays and Fridays, working from home in the morning, dropping him at school and heading to the Capitol for the afternoons. When that didn’t work for her, James dropped Jake at school and picked him up.

Josh spent more time working from home, it was just easier with his hip acting up more days than not. They boys’ schedules lined up for lunch and most days all 3 Lyman “boys” met in the kitchen for lunch. Jake and Jessie took turns planning their meals. Jessie took a bit more time planning things out, Jake usually made sandwiches. The contents of the meal weren’t all that important to Josh, he enjoyed spending time with the boys.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the very long delay. COVID fatigue has hit big time.

Jake and Jessie both had off the Friday and Monday of Columbus Day weekend. In years past they usually spent the long weekend in New Hampshire. They hadn’t even bothered trying to consider a trip with the virus still going stronger than anyone had anticipated. Although great strides were being made in the area of vaccine development and restrictions were starting to lessen, their lives were still far from “normal”.

“Hey Dad, can we do something for the long weekend? Anything?” Jessie asked as the two of them sat at the counter in the kitchen enjoying a snack and waiting for Jake to get home. It was Friday, the week before the holiday weekend. “I know it’s a little late to plan anything and there’s still this damn virus,” he said, letting out a little gasp at his choice in wording. He waited for his father to call him out on his language. While Josh didn’t say anything, he did give a little disapproving look, complete with raised eyebrows.

“I’ll think about what we can do. I know this sucks. But things seem to be heading in the right direction. Or at least that’s what my meeting this morning told me,” Josh said with a grin.

**************

“You sure you don’t want to go?” Josh asked Donna on the following Saturday morning as he shoved a few last things in his duffle bag. He had spent the week making plans for a huge surprise for the boys, as well as Zoey and Charlie’s son Eddie. It had taken a lot of logistics, including COVID tests for everyone involved. And keeping the plans secret from the boys had been challenging. They were told to pack for the woods and no other details.

“Nope. Zoey, Sophie and I are having a girls’ weekend. Still waiting to see if Ellie can join us. We’re be happily tucked away at Zoey’s place with peace, quiet and wine,” Donna announced as she finished packing her own bag. 

“Don’t forget a preschooler,” Josh teased, as the littlest Young child, Henry was not invited to their boys’ weekend away.

“Oh no, Henry is having bonding time with his Aunt Deanna and Uncle Michael. This has been a whirlwind of planning,” Donna admitted, happy that everything seemed to be falling into place.

“It has, but I think it will be good, for all of us,” Josh said as he zippered up his duffle bag and set it in the hallway for one of the boys to pick up. He grabbed his backpack and headed for the living room. “Boys, leaving in 10 minutes,” he yelled up the stairs.

A minute later, the boys flew down the stairs in a flurry of duffle bags and backpacks.

“Can you please tell us where we’re going?” they pleaded. 

“Wait, mom’s not coming is she?” Jake asked as he noticed Donna’s bag in the foyer.

“Gee, way to make me feel loved,” Donna snorted. “No, I have my own plans which do not involve the outdoors.”

“Sorry Mom. So, if mom’s going somewhere too, are we walking to our destination?” Jessie snorted as he brushed back his curls and set his Notre Dame baseball cap on his head.

He got his answer to his question as James came up the front steps and poked his head in the front door. “Uber is leaving, let’s go,” he announced. The boys threw their things in the back of the SUV and climbed into the back seat.

“Hope James knows where he’s going,” Josh teased. His sons rolled their eyes from the back seat.

The boys watched as James turned the car onto Connecticut Ave, heading towards the city. They exchanged confused glances and they were not currently headed for any place they would remotely consider to be “outdoors”.

James eased the car to the curb by the Old Executive Office Building. Putting the flashers on, he turned to the boys. “Okay, everybody out,” he grinned.

The boys did as they were told, making sure to grab all their things from the backseat before grabbing the duffels out of the cargo area. As Josh talked to James for a minute the boys turned towards the south when they heard and felt the rumble of a helicopter.

“Is that Marine One?” Jessie asked Josh as he pointed towards the sky.

“Yep, that’s our ride,” he said without further explanation and he turned to start walking towards the White House.

“Wait, what?” the boys chorused together as they grabbed their things and quickly caught up to their Dad who had a huge grin on his face.

“You’ll see,” Josh said cryptically.

They made it past with Southwest appointment gate quickly and soon found themselves standing on the South Lawn of the White House, not far from where Marine One had just landed.

“Hey boys,” came a very familiar voice, one belonging to the Leader of the Free World.

The boys, still a little dumbstruck, greeted Matt Santos with elbow bumps. 

It was Jessie who found his voice first. “Mr. President, what is going on?” he asked as he set his bags on the ground. Before President Santos could answer, both boys caught sight of a pair of familiar faces across the lawn. Charlie and his son Eddie were coming towards them with Eddie all but running. 

Fifteen minutes later, all the guys had greeted each other, and in the case of the kids, calmed down a little. An aide had put President Santos’ bags in the helicopter, along with the “football”. His Secret Service detail ushered everyone inside, getting them all settled.

The boys, none of whom had ever been on Marine One were beyond excited. Josh and Charlie hadn’t been on it in years and were a little overwhelmed with memories which came flooding back.

“Ready Sir?” the pilot asked, looking over his shoulder at Matt Santos.

“Ready. Let’s go.”

“Uh, Mr. President, where are we going?” Jessie asked as he fastened his seatbelt.

“The one outdoor place I can go to without much fuss,” Santos said with a grin. 

“Camp David?” Jessie asked, suddenly beyond excited, as if that were actually possible. “Mr. President, this is so cool.”

“Yes, and let’s make a deal at least for the weekend, for you two especially,” he said, pointing at Jake and Jessie. “Calling me Mr. President all weekend is quite the mouthful. What do you call Jed Bartlet?”

“Uncle Jed,” Jake answered.

“And I assume you call him, Grandpa?” Santos asked, pointing at Eddie, who just nodded with a little grin. Charlie and Zoey’s son had only met the President twice and he was a little intimidated by his surroundings, understandably. “How about we go with, Uncle Matt. You know while we’re in the woods, doing as men do,” he smirked.

“As men do, surrounded by the Secret Service and a staff of 6?” Josh snorted as the helicopter lifted off.

“You have to call me Mr. President and Sir the entire time,” Matt teased as he pointed at Josh. “You, whatever you want,” he smirked, waving at Charlie.

The men chatted while the 3 boys spent a good deal of the trip taking pictures out the window. They took a few selfies, leading to a short conversation about what was acceptable to post to their social media feeds. Basically, they could post pictures without tagging their location or including anything which would let the world know who was hosting their weekend getaway. Matt Santos did promise to supply them with some “official” pictures they could use as they wished, when the weekend was over.

About an hour later Marine One touched down on the helipad at Camp David. The group was met by three members of the staff and their golf carts. Both Charlie and Josh waved off the staff when they tried to grab the boys’ bags. They were going to be spoiled enough over the weekend.

“So where do we all stay?” Eddie asked as he climbed on the back of the golf cart with Jake and Jessie. Newly minted, Uncle Matt, was sitting up front with the driver while Josh and Charlie were on another cart. The third one held their luggage and the two Secret Service agents who had flown with them.

“There are tons of places to stay on the property, but I think we’ll all stay in the main house. Plenty of room for all of us. There’s a room with some bunk beds, that sound good to you three?” He got a trio of nods as the cart started down the path towards the main house.

By the time the boys had picked their bunks and unpacked a little, lunch was being served. The kitchen staff had been advised to go easy on the fancy food and not to be surprised if they had company in the kitchen. As a result of their instructions, lunch was hot dogs, macaroni and cheese and brownies for dessert. 

After lunch the group got a quick tour of the facility. While both Josh and Charlie had obviously been there before, there had been numerous changes and upgrades since the Bartlet administration.

The group, minus Josh, played basketball for a while. Josh used his cane as a convenient excuse to sit on the sidelines. He provided play-by-play commentary to the game, to the amusement of the rest of the group. Donna called in to check on how things were going and how surprised the boys had been at their destination. 

“Okay, that’s enough for me,” President Santos said, leaning over, hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. 

“Probably wouldn’t look too good if we killed the President playing basketball,” Eddie teased.

“Not at all,” Santos agreed as he reached for a bottle of water the staff had set out on a nearby table, along with some snacks. 

“Can we drive the golf carts?” Jake asked.

“Up to them,” Santos said, pointing at Josh and Charlie.

“Take an adult with you, and listen to him,” Josh said, pointing at Charlie.

“Guess I’m the driving instructor,” Charlie muttered with a grin.

“You can drive out to the field up the road,” Santos said, motioning beyond the tree line. “Plenty of room for them to drive without hitting anything.

“Unless we’re really, really bad,” Jake chimed before calling “shotgun” and climbing into the seat next to Charlie.

Jessie adjusted his glasses and slid onto the bench seat with Eddie.

While the boys took turns driving around in the golf cart, Santos and Josh talked “shop” for a little while.

They talked about the strides being made on the vaccine front. They were waiting on FDA approval for Emergency Use Authorization on two different vaccines. News which they were hoping to hear in the next few days.

They wandered back onto the basketball court where they took a few shots, even Josh managed to make a few.

***************

They all took over the kitchen about 6:00, intent on making pizza for dinner. The kitchen staff was happy to have a free night. The boys discovered the vast stash of soda and junk food while the adults partook of the wide variety of beer.

Charlie was in charge of organizing the group into actually making the pizza. The inability of the 6 of them to agree on any toppings led to 6 individual pizzas for them and since they had plenty of dough and toppings left, they made two pies for the Secret Service agents.

Although the boys would have been happy to just eat their pizza while sitting around the industrial kitchen, President Santos insisted on them actually sitting at the large rustic dining room table in the main house. He also insisted on some salad with their meal. 

The staff insisted on cleaning up after the meal, especially since they hadn’t had to actually to any of the cooking.

“Can we build a fire?” Eddie asked as he pointed to the large stone fireplace at the far end of the room. 

“Sure. You three want it in here or outside in the firepit?” Santos asked.

“Outside,” the three boys answered at once.

One of the agents went outside to get it started, waving back Josh and Charlie who tried to go help. By the time the first was lit, one of the kitchen staff was heading outside with a tray of supplies for s’mores.

Josh and Charlie followed the goodies outside while Matt stayed in to call Helen.

“So, you three were surprised?” Charlie asked as he unwrapped a Hershey bar, handing half to his son.

“Beyond surprised,” answered Jessie.

“Pretty cool,” replied Jake, trying not to sound too enthusiastic, thus ruin his brooding teenage image.

“Grandpa’s talked about this place, but I’ve never seen it,” Eddie said as he squished his s’more together. 

“Yeah, your mom and I had some good times here,” Charlie muttered with a grin.

“Yeah, the boys don’t need to hear about them,” Josh teased. “Jed does know we’re here and he’s not really capable of posting to social media so want to send him a few pictures?”

All nodded in agreement. They took a few goofy selfies before the current President arrived to join in the fun. They did manage to take a few semi-serious ones before Josh sent them on to Abbey, knowing she was more likely to check her phone than Jed.

They hung out around the fire, talking and stuffing themselves with chocolate and marshmallow while relaxing more than any of them had in what seemed like months. Santos had to take a few phone calls, but no national emergencies were brewing at the moment. 

Josh talked to Donna for a few minutes, after wandering around to find a good cell signal. When he was done he tossed the phone to Charlie so he could say goodnight to Zoey and Sophie. Apparently, the girls weekend was going well and it seemed as if a good deal of wine was involved.

With the s’mores gone and the boys at the point where they needed to settle down if they were to get any sleep, the group headed inside. They carried in the remnants of their dessert and in the case of the grownups, their empty beer bottles.

Josh and Charlie sent the boys to change into their pajamas with the promise of a movie on the huge television in the family room of the main house. The whole group settled down with Avenger’s End Game.

By the time the movie was over, Josh was snoring, Matt was reading something on his iPad in the overstuffed chair in the corner, Charlie and the boys were still awake. He sent them to brush their teeth while he nudged Josh awake, handed him his cane and sent him off to bed too.

“Good night, Uncle Matt,” the boys called as they headed for their room.

“Night guys, if you get up first, there’s stuff in the kitchen for breakfast,” he said as he set the iPad on the coffee table and propelled himself to his feet before heading for the master bedroom.

Twenty minutes later, all the “boys” were sound asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I feel the Santos administration would have handled the pandemic better than the most recent one, the course of things will be picked up and there is a light at the end of the tunnel, at least for this "universe".


End file.
